


Mer!Ficlet

by HQ_Wingster



Series: Legends of The Blue Sea [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Beaches, Boys In Love, Cute, Developing Relationship, Drabble Collection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Gen, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, M/M, Magical Realism, Merman Victor Nikiforov, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Ocean, Pining Katsuki Yuuri, Sirens, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Story within a Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-02-03 01:58:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 57
Words: 38,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12738711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HQ_Wingster/pseuds/HQ_Wingster
Summary: A mer is a body without a soul--a wandering zombie forever hunting for what will make it human.For as long as mer!Viktor could remember, that was his destiny. Until he encountered a human--Katsuki Yuuri--on the edge of Hastsu's beach.A story of a merman and a human, who's afraid of the sea, and the events that contribute to their first love.





	1. Arc 1: Music

Sometimes, Yuuri would sit by the water’s edge and play music. Hum a few tunes on a misty morning while the gulls echoed somewhere up above. The ruffle of their feathers soaring overhead while Yuuri browsed through a few songs before his morning run. Somewhere in the water, he heard a splash. A quick  _ flutter  _ of fins, but Yuuri didn’t move. He convinced himself it was a fish, but he heard more splashes as new songs popped up on his phone.

In the mist, Yuuri heard a voice. A solemn voice, a voice reaching for something they once had. The language wasn’t English or any other that Yuuri was familiar with. He wasn’t sure if it was a real language, but there were trills and emotion behind the voice’s words. Yuuri couldn’t dismiss the voice’s intentions so easily. Lowering his music’s volume, Yuuri hummed a few notes and the mysterious voice harmonized with his.

Yuuri didn’t know it, but this was his second encounter with Viktor. The first:  _ when Yuuri was a teen, tugging a fishing net off from a marine animal.  _ For the third encounter,  _ well, _ Viktor could tell the story better than Yuuri could.


	2. Gifts

Every morning when Yuuri went out on his morning walk by the shore, Mer!Viktor would poke out from the water and hand him a fish. A little snack so that Yuuri won’t be hungry, and and Viktor chirps and whistles when Yuuri enjoys the gift. Albeit, he doesn’t eat the fish right there because of sanitary reasons, but he expresses his joy.

One day, Yuuri buys a fish from the market, wraps it in packaging paper, and hands it to Viktor as a gift. The fish smells funny and is unlike anything Viktor has seen in his neck of the sea, but he loves it! Yuuri gave him a gift in return, and it means so much.


	3. Makkachin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the shorter ficlets for this collection. The rest will be longer~! Thank you for your patience

When Mer!Viktor was…younger, he found a little puffer fish and named her Makkachin! Makkachin had two modes: the squishy!mode that liked to poke Viktor with her flipper and the puff!mode where she would blow up and protect her Viktor from any and all threats.

Even though she was 10% of his size.

And Makkachin could barely hurt anybody with her spikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lovely mutual of mine [made a fanart](https://edible-opposing-forks.tumblr.com/post/167436173945/yuuris-piano-when-merviktor-wasyounger-he) for this ficlet!


	4. Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favorites

When mer!Viktor meets Yuuri for the first time, he wonders why Yuuri doesn’t like water. Is it because Yuuri doesn’t have a tail or a strong Makkachin to keep him safe? Is it because he’s walking along the sand alone, occasionally dipping his toes into the rising waves before backing off. Tensed, darker thoughts shading his eyes before he backs away.

So after he formally introduced himself to Yuuri– _ which involved seagulls, wave splashing, and Yuuri having to rush home to change out of his wet clothes before going to work– _ mer!Viktor would come as close to beach as he could and offer bits of the sea so that Yuuri could be comfortable.

It started with seashells, fish, and seaweed. It started with Viktor opening his heart a little more so that he could give courage and strength. It started with Yuuri slowly growing braver, able to walk a bit closer to the crashing waves so that he could hear Viktor better.

It started when Yuuri leapt into the waters and embraced Viktor, because he hadn’t been able to see the merman since the first frost of Winter.


	5. Speak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a [song ](https://yuuris-piano.tumblr.com/post/167525616363/recommended-to-listen-through-headphones-the)for these ficlets!

Mer!Viktor didn’t communicate in words, but through sounds

  * Chirps indicate when he’s happy and calm, like when he’s snuggling against Makkachin
  * Squeaks are when when he’s getting someone’s attention (sometimes he’ll splash water if Yuuri has his earbuds in. Keep note of that)
  * Wheezes are when he’s excited or surprised (the good kind or the bad kind? Yuuri needed to observe more)
  * Growls were when he was frustrated or in a bad mood (Yuuri often wouldn’t see Viktor around these times, and he’d wonder if the merman was okay)
  * Small barks for when he was sad or needed affection (in which, Yuuri would sit close to the water and just be there for Viktor)



But through all these sounds that Yuuri documented during his morning walks along the beach, sometimes he’d hear laughter or singing. Wondering if he’ll ever hear Viktor’s  _ true voice  _ one day, and it only adds to the mystery.

For now, Yuuri could still count on his notes for guidance when it comes to communicating with a merman, or at least  _ this  _ merman. It didn’t happen often, but Viktor would surprise Yuuri with a new sound and they would bond closer together while Yuuri learned the new meaning behind Viktor’s sounds.


	6. Surprise

After Yuuri has noticed few patterns within mer!Viktor’s speech, he goes home and practices the language. It isn’t too difficult for the most part. The sounds are simple to imitate, but Yuuri struggles with putting emotion behind them. He wants to at least be passable to Viktor’s ears, but he wants the sounds to roll off naturally. It’ll be impossible to be fluent in the mer!language but if Yuuri could say Viktor’s name, it’ll all be worth it.

Yuuri speaks slowly, staring at his lips and how they move to form the sounds. He remembers how Viktor spoke earlier that morning, so Yuuri tries to copy it. After a few days, Yuuri grows confident enough to share the fruits of his labor and waits patiently by the beach one morning, bearing a usual fish in his hands to give to Viktor.

As soon as Viktor surfaces, Yuuri hears the merman call out to him. Airy chirps resonating on a calm morning. Yuuri clears his throat, remembers his training, and calls out to Viktor. His voice cracks, he sounds like a dying whale compared to Viktor’s clear voice, and Yuuri feels like a toddler who just learned how to pronounce someone’s name.  _ Poorly. _

Yuuri braces himself for disappointment but instead, he hears splashing and looks out into the water. Half of Viktor’s face is above the water, and his eyes can’t meet Yuuri’s gaze. A pink tinge riding high over his cheekbones, and the water is bubbling around where Viktor’s lips are. It takes a moment for Yuuri to realize that he,  _ a two-leg with barely any knowledge of mer!language,  _ made Viktor flustered.

In reality:  _ Yuuri told Viktor that he loves him, and Viktor didn’t expect this  _ **_much_ ** _ growth in their relationship. _

* * *

 

**Bonus:** Viktor occasionally sing morbid songs about sailors that have drowned at sea. Usually under his breath so that no one would hear, so imagine the blood leaving his face when he surfaces and Yuuri sings a few lines back to him.

Yuuri thinks they’re lovely phrases. Viktor wonders who taught Yuuri those vulgar words, and then Viktor realizes that  _ he  _ did because he wasn’t singing quietly enough.

Viktor:  _ “Yuuri is always full of surprises.” _


	7. Memories

Merfolk were Humans who had died at sea. While their souls may go to Heaven or Hell, their bodies transform. Scales protrude over their bodies, legs fuse along the middle to create a tail, webbed fins stretch between the fingers, slits cut into the neck, and the body awakens. Led by by wild instincts, a former shell of who it used to be. Merfolk patrol the waters, bodies without a soul. Zombies of the sea, but they feast on fish and are the catch for a shark or a lone predator that wanders so willingly into their territory.

Some of Viktor’s earliest memories as a merman were of him swimming away. In fear? In distress? He couldn’t remember. But the whiplash of his tail and the bubbles spilling from his lips spoke of an evil that Viktor had blocked from his memories. One of his earliest memories was of him swimming past chains and wooden legs from rickety piers. Overhead, the sun slipped through the cracks and illuminated his skin. He occasionally glanced up and saw shadows of figures. Bigger than seagulls, more colorful than even the reefs, and so familiar yet foreign at the same time. When Viktor poked his head above the water, words and different languages slipped into his ear and Viktor treaded quietly.

He understood, but  _ they  _ would never understand him.

So when Viktor first met Yuuri, his head perked up when Yuuri spoke back to him. Slowly at first, wondering if Viktor understood the words coming out of his mouth. Viktor did. He wouldn’t be the first merman to leap out of the water, but he kept his distance because Yuuri kept his distance too. It was a mutual understanding between them.

The smiles, the soft exchanges along their side of the shoreline, the laughs, and how land and sea bridged the gaps in between them. For the first time, Viktor didn’t feel so alone.


	8. Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Yuuri wonders why Viktor still comes to the beach

With only the stars to guide him, Yuuri visits the shore one evening. Bundled in a dinner vest. Clothes he could’ve worn to a work party, but he decided to visit the beach instead. Glass of champagne perched near his lips. He wonders if Viktor’s out on a night like this. Looking up to the same moon? The same stars? Yuuri never realized how pretty the stars were until he was alone. The ocean breeze combs through his hair, and Yuuri’s lips part from the champagne glass.

All he could hear were the waves, coming up close but not close enough. The water barely grazed his shoes, and Yuuri didn’t step back. Was he not scared? Even with alcohol in his blood, Yuuri wasn’t stupid enough to step forward. He simply stood, grounded to where he was. In a silence that would only break because of a scream, but he didn’t. Yuuri whistled. A few, fluttering chirps before he heard a splash from somewhere in the darkness.

It was Viktor, it was  _ always  _ Viktor.

It was always Viktor because Yuuri wouldn’t know why he’d be here at the beach, alone with alcohol thumping against his ear. It was always Viktor because he rarely turned a shy eye when Yuuri needed him the most. It was always Viktor, and Yuuri  _ hated  _ it.

He couldn’t give anything in return. He was always bound to obligations, shackled around the neck with expectations. And Viktor, Viktor had none. He was free to roam wherever he pleased, yet he chained himself to this one beach for Yuuri’s sake.

Sometimes, Yuuri wanted to say,  _ “Viktor, you don’t have to see me anymore.” _

_ “You don’t have to give me gifts.” _

_ “You don’t have to waste your life on me.” _

_ “Please, be yourself.” _

But how could Yuuri could say any of those things when Viktor poked his head up from the water and flashed him a toothy grin. Pure bliss, an unfailing joy because Yuuri was special to Viktor, and the fact always reeled him back to the shore. Where he saw Yuuri and widened his eyes, wondering why they were meeting again when it wasn’t morning yet.

Yuuri had an answer, but he didn’t want to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making a mer!one shot right now. By the time I post another little snippet here, the one shot should be finished so be on the lookout~


	9. Alone

Mer!Viktor lives near one of the piers close to a Marine Rehabilitation Centre. Beneath said pier, Viktor sleeps in a bed of seagrass with Makkachin. It's a soft bed that tickles Viktor’s skin and comforts him after a long day. A collection of fish bones tied to a pier leg, floating along the underwater breeze to attract bigger monsters lurking in the deep and Viktor is on the attack. Defending his territory a few times a week so that he could be a proper merman.

Because merfolk fight, but Viktor is alone on the beach with no one. Besides Makkachin and an occasional shark. If he doesn't bear his scars, the merfolk would do it and they'll leave more than just bruises and faded scars. He could die, and Viktor has brushed Death more times than a merman or Human could ever count. The horror is that Viktor doesn't remember these moments well, and he's doomed to repeat these experiences until he finally snaps.

Slapping his tail against a pier leg and wondering who he should be. Is he more Human? More of a mer? What can he do? Makkachin gives Viktor kisses and little pokes, but she knows when to swim away when Viktor lies in his bed of seagrass and tries to sleep. Tries to understand why, why this happened to him.

He didn't ask for a second life, but did he have a first to begin with?

But then he hears footsteps up above and a pair of feet and legs swing over the edge of the pier. The filtering light above the water blinds Viktor as he swims up. Makkachin close to his side, ready to puff if she sees a threat. Beads of water roll down Viktor’s skin.

The Human doesn't notice him. Words caught in the back of his throat, not sure what to say.

_ ”Hello?” _

Viktor dives down just as the Human’s legs cross. They're speaking on a phone.

Viktor concludes that he's not exactly Human either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made and posted [my first mer!oneshot](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12760824) recently! It's about mer!Viktor and Yuuri's first kiss~
> 
> Thank you for enjoying this little scenarios and peace out!
> 
>  


	10. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a rough time last night so I made something that helped me smile

Makkachin is a master of turning Viktor’s frown upside down. Whenever Viktor’s sulking by the seagrass or nursing a wound, Makkachin flutters by and makes ridiculous faces. She pushes and pulls her face, she pretends to be a seagull and “flies” around, and Makkachin enjoys sitting on Viktor’s head and fluffing up a nest for herself. Channeling her inner-happy thoughts and transferring them to Viktor, even though it doesn’t work like that.

Viktor appreciates Makkachin’s efforts, and he holds the puffer fish close. When Viktor manages a smile, Makkachin lights up like a star and gives Viktor little smooches before hugging his cheek.


	11. Share

Yuuri had never told anyone about Viktor until he mentioned the merman to his father.

Toshiya was washing the dishes one evening when he heard a call from the family phone. Mari was already fast asleep, and Hiroko was buying groceries from the local market. Not answering the phone would be rude, so Toshiya dropped his dish rag and lifted the family phone up to his ear. A muffle came from the other side of the line until Toshiya registered the voice as Yuuri’s. Softer than a whisper, Yuuri asked if merman were real. What a strange way to start off a call, but it was an interesting beginning. Though Toshiya had never encountered a merman,  _ personally,  _ he replied confidentially that they were still real because he knew someone who  _ has  _ seen one.

_ “Who?”  _ A tremor of hope resonated in Yuuri’s voice.

“You, of course.” Somewhere in Hasetsu, a pair of glasses cracked. “Isn’t that why you asked?”

Toshiya heard a sigh from his sigh. Resting the phone on his shoulder, Toshiya moved out from the kitchen and sat by a low dining table. Squatting slowly until his bottom made contact with a floor cushion, and Toshiya fanned himself with the evening’s newspaper.

“Do you think you saw one?”

Uncomfortable silence from Yuuri before he mumbled,  _ “I think I did.” _

The lens of Toshiya’s glasses lit up like the sun. “Wow, what were they like?”

Yuuri stumbled with his words. Was his father serious?

_ Of course, _ Toshiya was serious. Merman don’t pop up every day, and Toshiya was curious to hear Yuuri’s story. Because if his son encountered a merman, this was a sign. Whether good or bad, Toshiya knew that the encounter would change Yuuri’s perspective of the sea and perhaps, he would come to understand the components behind his fear.

In the end, the talk had to be cut short because Yuuri had to sleep early because of work. Toshiya poured fatherly advice into Yuuri’s ear, and Yuuri whispered  _ goodnight  _ before ending the call.

A few days later, Yuuri came home to visit over the weekend. When he finally had a private moment with his father in the kitchen, Yuuri turned to look at Toshiya.  _ “You believed me? About if merman were real?” _

Toshiya whistled a little tune as he peeled some onions. “When I was your age, I saw my fair share of the supernatural.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You could almost say that running into the supernatural runs in the Katsuki family


	12. Precious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Chapter contains somewhat detailed-violence from merfolk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YoI characters are not referenced or mentioned in this chapter because I exclusively focused on the behavior of merfolk during a storm.
> 
> When a group of merfolk come together, they create storms that will lure ships into the "eye" so that they can hunt.

Merfolk are notorious for creating oceanic storms. A passing boat or a humble ship could easily find itself in the eye of the storm with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

The storm appears normal at first: torrential rains, lashing winds, and with the vessel rocking back and forth over mounting waves. Those who have survived to tell the tale often report of hearing voices, ghostly wails luring the ships and boats closer to the eye of the storm. Suddenly, the ocean is at peace, but a gray veil cloaks the sacrifices before the groom strokes it back. Bobbing in the water are merfolk. Tails swishing and their scales lighting up like gems. They bring color to the chaos and sing their songs.

Those who didn’t heed the sea’s warnings admire the voices from the edge of the ships. Those who recognize have no place to run. There’s nowhere to hide on an overcrowded ship, and no one can block out the voices. Soon, the chorus grows frantic. Tails slap the water’s edge like a knife, the voices grow softer. Quieter. Enough where the shipmates are leaning over the side of their water vessel before…

_ Swipe.  _ A mermaid leaps out from the water and lassos a shipmate into the water. Like the first drop of food in a glorified fish tank, the merfolk attack. The fresher ones strip the shipmate from skin to bone. The older ones hover nearby. Better yet, they lasso themselves another shipmate. Not just one, but two. Not just two, but three. Not just three, but every soul worth looting on the floating caskets.

The seaweed lassos wrap around the neck, the arm, the leg, and any other portion that the shipmates couldn’t run away from. Screams frenzied the air. Heels dragged across salty wood. Bodies flailing in the water, attracting more and more merfolk. The older ones pinning the shipmates beneath the water’s surface. Strangling them of air. The impatient ones do-the-do and just strange the shipmates. Never letting go, even when the shipmates kicked, writhed, and clawed with their fingers before their bodies grow limp. Bubbles issuing from their lips. The water is silent for a mere moment.

The younger merfolk watch in anticipation. Crawling up the throat and emerging from over several shipmates’ tongues are marbles,  _ marbles of their Human soul.  _ Beautiful ornaments, swirled with vibrant colors along the centre and shining like a lustrous star.

The wonderment only lasts a moment until a mer snatches a marble for their own. The sea boils in jealousy. Merfolk snatching marbles from each other and clinging to them as long as they could before another rips it out from their hands.

Because in order for them to be Human, they need a soul. So they will curse another individual to their fate just to live again on land. The victors of the storm swim as far as they can and reach the shore of an island or of a beach before swallowing their marble. Excruciating pain ripples throughout the body.

The neck burns. The gills close themselves and the mer struggles to breathe. The body contorts and snaps back, scales flaking off or consumed by the flesh for energy. The webbed fins over the ears and around the fingers are absorbed. The tail rips down the middle like a seam as legs  take shape.

Throat dry, the Human cups water into their hands and drinks. It doesn’t matter if it’s salt or fresh water. They’re Human again.


	13. Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end has come.

In the middle of the night when the world around him has already fallen asleep, Yuuri wakes up when he hears a splash of water. It takes him a moment to realize to that he’s in bed, not by the beach. But in the darkness, Yuuri hears a splash. His ears are sensitive to the sound, and he rolls around in bed. Vicchan is sleeping beside him, and he wakes up and wonders why Yuuri isn’t asleep yet. Yuuri wants to know too. Somewhere in his tiny apartment, there’s water.

If there’s water dripping from a faucet, then...Yuuri stumbles out of bed and he creeps over to the kitchen sink. He runs a finger under the faucet, but it’s dry. He shuffles to the bathroom and turns on the lights. No drips, no puddles, nothing. Maybe going to the beach every morning has upset his imagination somehow, but Yuuri doesn’t understand how that could happen. Viktor has done nothing to scare or upset him so why…

In the morning, Yuuri called home and his father picked up the call.

_ “Yuuri, what relationship do you have with this merman?” _ Toshiya asked. Upon hearing his son’s answer, Toshiya sighs into the receiver. Wondering if he should tell Yuuri the truth. For now, he told Yuuri to avoid visiting the beach for a few days. When the call ends, Toshiya startles himself when he hears the sink drip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all have suggestions of what scenarios you'll like to read, you can send me a request through my tumblr or comment it down below. I have some scenarios in mind, but I'll like to what y'all are interested in as well.
> 
> Also, I've already Toshiya into the story. Who else should I add?


	14. Katsuki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's power behind the name.

In the Katsuki family, there was an interesting trend amongst the females and males. Toshiya and Yuuri had the ability to draw supernatural beings towards them because of the charisma flaking off of their souls. Mari had a protection ability that shielded her mind from the influence of mental abilities, and Hiroko had a peculiar little ability of her own. One night while she and Toshiya were alone at the back of the onsen, Toshiya remembered his wife’s ability.

“I haven’t heard from Yuuri in a few days.” Hiroko cleans her glasses with a wet napkin, holding Toshiya’s arm close to her as they sat together under a cloudy sky.

“Really?” Toshiya acts surprise. He hasn’t told Hiroko about Yuuri’s... _ predicament  _ yet.

“I mean, he was home just a few days ago and it was lovely but--” Hiroko perks up when she hears dripping water.  _ “One of the pipes again.” _

“Do you want to fix it together?” Toshiya asks. Hiroko nods and they rise together. Shuffle, arm in arm, to the kitchen where Toshiya bends down slowly and grabs the tools from under the sink counter. Hiroko helps Toshiya, and they walk slowly down the empty halls. Hiroko peeks into Mari’s room to check on her baby, and Mari is fast asleep. Head under her pillow, and Toshiya steals a laugh when he sees Mari too. For a moment, the discussion about Yuuri was dropped. But Toshiya figured that Hiroko was biding her time.

She doesn’t say anything as Toshiya checks the onsen pipes in the back. Only when Toshiya makes a motion for a wrench, Hiroko begins to speak.

“Toshiya, do you think Yuuri would be happier at home?”

“I’m not sure if this helps, but Mari hasn’t left the nest yet.” Toshiya chuckles as he tightens a few screws. “We both know why Yuuri wanted to leave, and this is part of his journey.”

“He walks by the beach every morning and I’m afraid. I’m afraid something might happen to him.”

“What could possibly happen?” Toshiya realizes his mistake by the time he hands the wrench back to Hiroko. Toshiya’s glasses fog just a bit as Hiroko spits out a list of mythical creatures that would love to split Yuuri from his bones. “Okay, but Yuuri has Vicchan!”

Hiroko sighs. “Vicchan is an anxiety dog.” But then, her face brightens up. “But he sure knows how to keep the monsters at bay when Yuuri needs him the most.”

Toshiya nods. “See, Yuuri’s fine.”

Hiroko tilts her head to the side. “Toshiya?”

“Hmm?”

“Has Yuuri told you anything lately?”

Toshiya can’t lie. His tongue would grow limp and flub if he tried. This was Hiroko’s ability:  _ the ability where no one could lie to her if she asked a question.  _ Toshiya plays it cool, simply nodding than saying anything. Hiroko narrows her eyes ever-so slightly, but she has a harmless smile over her lips as she walks with Toshiya back to the kitchen.

“Is Yuuri okay?” Hiroko asks.

Again, Toshiya can’t lie. If he keeps nodding, Hiroko would only grow more suspicious. Toshiya has to say something. He manages a weak smile. _ “No.” _ His mouth and tongue relax. “No, Yuuri isn’t okay.”

“Is there a reason why he told you and not me or Mari?”

Toshiya nods. “He doesn’t want to scare either of you and for a while, I thought about bringing it up but the problem is still small. Not something to worry.”

“What is it?”

_ It’s for the best, son.  _ “Yuuri met a merman at the beach.”

It takes a moment for Hiroko to process what she just learned. “Okay.”

_ “Okay?” _

“Out of all the dangerous beings in this world, a merman is not something to be worried about.” Hiroko winks.

“Hiroko, Yuuri is--”

“Yuuri is safe.” Hiroko’s voice didn’t falter. “No would dare harm a Katsuki.”


	15. Part of Your World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to "Beauty and A Beat" while typing this XD

Swimming below the piers of Hasetsu’s beach, Viktor comes across a shoe, half-buried in the sand. He swims over and brushes the sand off of it. It’s a recent treasure with its laces floating with the currents. Viktor shakes the shoe and a shiny rock over a silver band falls out, and his eyes light up. Not only does the shoe remind Viktor of Yuuri, the shoe can make shiny treasures so Viktor’s shaking it as hard as he can but nothing’s coming out. He figures that the shoe is like a clam and that it needs time to make another shiny treasure.

Clutching the items into his hands, Viktor swims back to his “lair” and shows Makkachin the shoe he found. Makkachin puffs up and wrestles the shoe into the sand until the laces touch her, and the puffer fish shies away and hides behind Viktor because the laces look like tentacles. Viktor pokes the shoe with his tailfin to show that nothing bad happens, and Makkachin deflates just a bit.

Viktor wants to bring his treasures to Yuuri, but it’s already the afternoon and he doesn’t know where Yuuri is. Viktor hugs Makkachin and wonders if he’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning but as if  _ someone  _ had heard his wish, Viktor notices a whirling portal opening by his seagrass bed. Both he and Makkachin dart behind a pier leg and stare at the portal. Nothing’s coming out from it, but Viktor sees Yuuri! He sees Yuuri talking to other Humans, and one of them hands a bucket of fish to him. Viktor’s heart aches and he’s growling, but he stops when he watches Yuuri throw fish to a group of seals that are waiting for him in a tiny ocean!

Yuuri also looks different. His clothes are form-fitting, more suited to swimming, and he has two glasses on. A normal pair in front of his eyes, and a strange one bound by a strap hanging around his neck. Makkachin and Viktor watch in awe until Viktor swims closer to the portal and Makkachin is trying to tug Viktor back because no one knows what’ll happen if one of them touches the portal. Makkachin isn’t strong enough to hold Viktor back as he swims through the portal and brings Makkachin with him.

The puffer fish freaks when the portal closes behind them, and she and Viktor take a moment to adjust to the new water they’re in. It feels too... _ clean.  _ Their gills aren’t used to it, but Viktor doesn’t care because he sees Yuuri and he wants to hand in his treasures. Viktor pokes his head out from the water and whistles.

Yuuri jumps and asks his colleague-- _ Takeshi-- _ if he heard the whistle too. The man slowly nods, and he and Yuuri turn around and seeing a goofy Viktor and a terrified Makkachin. Viktor with a wet shoe in his hand, and a silver ring between his teeth before dips down into the water before leaping into the air. Tackling Yuuri off the ledge he was on and crashing both of them into a seal-infested waters.

“Yuuri, is that the merman you were talking about?” Takeshi extends a hand, and Yuuri grabs him. Spitting water and a tiny fish out of his mouth as he turns to meet Viktor. Viktor smiles and the ring in his mouth glows like a sign from Heaven.

“I guess so.”

And for a moment, Viktor thinks Yuuri’s mad because he’s soaked. But when Yuuri breaks into a laugh and asks Viktor how he got here, Viktor chirps like a storm and cuddles Yuuri into his arms.

It has been a few days since he last saw Yuuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Yuuri and Viktor are connected to each other, whenever Viktor wants to visit Yuuri, a portal will appear and he can go where Yuuri is. Unfortunately, Yuuri doesn't have this ability. This explains why sometimes, he hears splashes from Viktor because the merman is thinking about him.


	16. Bathtub

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this on my Tumblr yesterday and wanted to post it here too, but it wouldn't make sense until I after I posted the last chapter.

Yuuri fills up his apartment bathtub with squeaky toys and bags of salt so that when mer!Viktor comes over _[for whatever reason]_ , he can somewhat survive in the Human world. Viktor splashing his tail and creating a huge mess on the floor, Vicchan swooping in with a mop attached to his tail as he cleans the floor, and Yuuri is doing his best to conduct order but frankly, it’s a bit hard when there’s an excitable Viktor in the scene.

The bathtub is cramped, there’s no room for Yuuri, Viktor has tasted more shampoo than he ever wants to know, and Viktor can barely submerge himself because his tail takes too much space. But despite these shortcomings, Viktor enjoys his time with Yuuri. Squeaks and chirps flutter from his lips, his hands moving a mile a second with charades and all the words Viktor wants to say but he can’t.

After a while, Yuuri does his own squeaks and chirps in the bathroom acoustics. Despite the mess and chaos, they had fun. Even Vicchan had fun too because he got to make a mess! _[i.e. jump into the bathtub and spray everyone with water when he shook his fur]_


	17. Gift Exchange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every good gift deserves an open heart in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write something kinda funny/kinda cute since today is a holiday! Oh! And I'm planning another oneshot for this collection~ You can try to guess what it is, but you probably won't get it.

When Yuuri asked Viktor how he got to the Marine Rehabilitation Center, Viktor cocked his head ot the side, chirping and splashing about the shoe and shiny treasure he found earlier that day. All Yuuri had to do was glance over Viktor’s shoulder and he met Makkachin’s unamused eyes. With her flippers, she acted how a portal appeared out of nowhere and that Viktor went through it when he saw Yuuri. A limp and very dead sardine clung to Makkachin’s tail as she wiggled herself through a “portal”, aka a ring of floating sardine--very dead sardine.

From the game of charades, Yuuri concluded a few things if the portal  _ were  _ to appear often.

  * If Yuuri was innocently eating _Vietnamese Noodle Soup,_ he might squirt _Sriracha_ into Viktor’s eyes if the merman rises from the broth. By accident.
  * If Yuuri was washing the dishes back at his apartment, he imagined Viktor popping out from a glass bowl and getting his head stuck. Yuuri would either grab butter or have to crack his mother’s precious dining bowl.
  * Yuuri could be giving Vicchan a bath or giving himself a shower, and...Well, Yuuri _hoped_ that Viktor wouldn’t visit during those times.



Yuuri had more  _ speculations  _ but in the end, he figured that the portal would only appear in water or at least some sort of liquid. It begged the question what constituted as an appropriate liquid, but it was too complicated to explain to Viktor when Yuuri got out from the water with Takeshi’s help. The most Yuuri could do was warn Viktor that traveling through the portal too often will be bad.

_ Bad? _ That was a new word for Viktor to hear.

“Not good?” Yuuri turned his attention to Takeshi, signaling for help.

“You gotta sound confident,” Takeshi whispered before puffing his chest. “Bad is...well,  _ bad.” _

That wasn’t any better, and Viktor switched his gaze from Takeshi to Yuuri, depending on who spoke next. Eventually, Makkachin squeaked some sort of response and Viktor understood what Yuuri and Takeshi were trying to tell him. Viktor gave a hearty salute, and his tail splashed against the water’s edge. Immediately, another portal opened, leading to Viktor’s home under a pier. Takeshi and Yuuri simply glanced at each other, knowing better than to argue with magic or fantasy or whatever operated in the back of their reality.

Makkachin went through first, and Viktor followed along but he swam back to Yuuri and handed him the soggy shoe from earlier. Viktor held it with two hands, and Yuuri accepted it with both of his hands as well. A mer custom? Perhaps, it was Viktor being respectful after lapsing Yuuri’s attention away from work.

Yuuri had no use for the shoe, especially since he didn’t have the other half to the pair. But because Viktor gifted it to him, Yuuri remembered that he had an empty shoe box in his closet. After drying this shoe, he could store it there until Viktor finds the other half or another shoe to give.

Viktor still had the silver ring in his mouth, but he didn’t want to part from it. Not yet, so Yuuri asked if he could borrow the ring for just a moment. He had to be quick. Makkachin was already through the portal and she stared at Yuuri with her beady eyes as Yuuri pulled the shoelace out from his gift. Dragging it through the ring’s loop, Yuuri made a quick necklace and tied it around Viktor’s neck. Not too loose, but tight enough where it won’t float away underwater.


	18. My Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This [audio](https://seththeshallow.tumblr.com/post/167835797491/yuuris-piano-fear-is-the-darkest-part-of-the) partners well with today's snippet.

For as long as Yuuri could remember, he had always been afraid of the sea. For a long time, he couldn’t bear to sit in tubs or at his family’s hot springs. Not because his skin flinched when the water touched him or the tightness in his chest when he often his mother or father to be with him during those times. It was the depth. It was the act of plunging one foot into the water, accompanied by the other, and willingly submitting himself to the water’s edge. After  [ an experience ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12760824) by the beach, Yuuri thought he would never get over his fear.

“Conquering your fear takes one step at a time,” Mari had told him before when she skewered an apple and made a bunny-shape for her brother. “You don’t need to put your whole foot into first. Just the big toe, then the other toes, half the foot, a full foot, up to the ankle, and then you try the other foot.” Mari apologized when she pointed her knife at Yuuri for emphasize, and told Yuuri not to tell Hiroko about it.  _ (Hiroko found out anyway and she and Mari had a good talk about not gesturing with kitchen tools) _

So Yuuri took his first few steps towards the sea, rather figuratively. If he was going to understand his fear and grow comfortable around water again, knowledge was his strongest shield. If he knew the sea like the back of his hand, he could grow to admire than fear it. And at the ripe age of twenty-four, Yuuri worked at a Marine Life Rehabilitation Center with his friends, Takeshi and Yuuko, so that he could grow familiar with the biota along Hasetsu beach and bits from around the world.

But in all the learning Yuuri did, he still wasn’t comfortable with the sea. He may’ve conquered bathtubs, showers, his family’s onsen, and the swimming enclosures for the marine life at work, but the sea was an expanse that had triggered his life’s mission.

He couldn’t take his first step yet. Not alone. Bringing his fingers to his lips, Yuuri whistled and against the salty waves, he heard a splash as Viktor came up from the water with an inquisitive look filtering through his gaze.

“Viktor, do you want to…” Yuuri’s mouth went dry. “Can you stay with me?”  Like what Mari told him years before, Yuuri poked the water’s edge with his toe before sinking his foot slowly into the salty water.


	19. Backstreet Crime Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor discovers technology and an emotion he didn't know how to express before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep your blankets and tissues close for this snippet

The day mer!Viktor entered into Yuuri’s humble abode _ \--a studio room with more luggage than carpet space-- _ he discovered the internet or more importantly: _ TV channels.  _ Having lived and died before the age of motion film and cellular devices, Viktor was truly out of his element when he slipped through his portal by Hasetsu beach and splashed into Yuuri’s tiny bathtub just as the latter was filling the water with salt. Yuuri had to leave the room for a moment because he got salt into his eyes and when he came back, Viktor pointed at the tears streaming down Yuuri’s face.

“It’s like my own ocean,” Yuuri said, wiping back his tears before exposing Viktor to his first technological device: a tablet. Granted, it was waterproof and sealed behind a lot of plastic, but it was still functionable and Viktor chattered his teeth before Yuuri shook his head and said, “It’s not good if you eat it.”

From thenceforth, the tablet was Viktor’s best friend while Yuuri was at work. Viktor would just portal himself to Yuuri’s bathtub and play with Mr. Tablet while he kept the portal open so that he could snuggle Makkachin or the puffer fish could attack the tablet if she wanted to.

There were a lot of things to do, but Viktor couldn’t read a word of Japanese and Makkachin couldn’t read in general. So to say that they explored the full capabilities of the tablet was false, but Viktor was good with recognizing app icons. He knew where to watch videos and even though he understood nothing that came out from anyone’s lips, Viktor enjoyed the stories. He found some weird videos and shows that puzzled him about Human entertainment values, but Viktor also found some grim crime shows to watch. His favorite being  _ Backstreet Crime Watch. _

It was like every typical crime show with a grizzled detective, a hardened police squad, gray towns, and true crimes that emphasized that not every case can be won. Perhaps, Viktor felt that the show was a metaphor for his own life because of how the lead detective would hide her scars from others or refrained from socializing. How she felt as if she lived a double life and didn’t know where to fully express herself and occasionally, Viktor felt closer to the ocean when tears splashed down his cheeks and fell into the bathtub.

During an emotional episode, Yuuri came home to find Viktor in tears. The episode he was watching was paused, paused at a heartbreak scene. The scene where the lead detective held her friend’s dying hand.

On his last breaths, the friend asked,  _ “In the end, someday, will you walk with me?” _

The camera angle didn’t show the detective’s face, but her answer was loud and clear on the subtitles.  _ “Always.” _

When Viktor calmed down and realized that Yuuri was standing by the bathroom doorway, he looked a bit confused and worried that Yuuri saw him like this. But before he could brush his own tears away, Yuuri wiped them for him with a soft towel.

Yuuri had never seen Viktor cry before, and he didn’t want Viktor to be alone. Yuuri hugged Viktor softly and was a steady shoulder for Viktor to cry into. The mer had felt always this pain before, but this was the first time he ever got to express it.

Because in the sea, Viktor’s tears never mattered anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an original, I think [Backstreet Crime Watch] has the potential to be a cool original work for me to do some time in the future.


	20. Hunter and The Hunted

There are three things that all merfolk are wary of:  _ predators, each other, and Them. _ ‘Them’ doesn’t have a name because ‘Them’ lurks behind every smile and face that a mer grows too fond of. ‘Them’ is the thief in the night that pushes wooden boats across the water’s edge with nets spilling into the murky depths below. ‘Them’ are the nets that strangle every mer that comes under their touch before they’re reeled up to the surface and thrash with spears lodged in their guts.

‘Them’ is the grim reaper that spares no one a second life. ‘Them’ is the spectre with a bag of marbled souls at their belt loop. ‘Them’ is the monster that lurks on both land and sea, and ‘Them’ glides down the road and stops at the front doors of Yuutopia Hot Springs.

Toshiya hears the knock and beckons for ‘Them’ to come in because they hid behind a Human smile and Human face.

“Welcome.”

‘Them’ loosens her scarf. “It’s been too long, Mr. Katsuki.”

From one of the halls, Mari slips into an empty room and calls Yuuri. Just as her brother picked up the call, Mari whispers,  _ “Don’t come home.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've introduced the final player in this ficlet collection.


	21. Your Angel or Your Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has something or someone that they fear.

There are two creatures that deal with Death:  _ the mer and the siren.  _ Though both are very similar to one another, only one of them promised true salvation after an early death. Bearing an empty sack and a fishing net, sirens are the fluttering winds that sweep from the Heavens to scoop a soul up to its final resting place. And once they’ve rescued a soul from the clutches of insanity, the little marble transforms into a dove and soars as a free-spirit. But if a siren isn’t quick enough, the marble is easily snatched by a mer and endures another life with confliction splitting it down the middle. But once a marble is consumed, a siren has no choice but to wait for a death before rescuing the soul again.

But like how every mer is not an embodiment of evil and selfishness, not every siren is as sweet or as innocent as it wants one to believe. This siren was called ‘Them’, for she hid as an angel to disguise the brutality in her heart. But to those who knew her name, she was known simply as  _ Chihoko. _

Soft, velvet wings stretched from her shoulder blades and she wore a traditional Greek garment when she was on duty but when she walked amongst Man, her wings transformed into a rustic trench coat for a mysterious allure. Oh, she chirped and whistled her call like any bird or woman, but nothing quite shaded her complexion as much as her eyes did. The gaze of a predator never left her face, and her talons were just as harsh when she wrestled marbles between her fingers when Toshiya led Chihoko into the dining area before she could call herself a bottle of sake for the night.

Hiroko served her. A sweet demeanor radiating off of her, but Hiroko kept her distance when Chihoko poured herself a drink.

“What brings a siren here tonight?” Hiroko asked, innocently bowing her head before taking a seat right across from Chihoko.

Chihoko cocked her head to the side. Even she wasn’t immune to Hiroko’s ability. Chihoko drowned her first glass of sake and placed it on the table, as if it was a chess piece.

“I can enjoy a drink if I want, and I was hoping that a certain someone would be here to serve me instead.”

Hiroko adjusted her glasses. “I’m afraid my son is preoccupied at the moment.”

“I will try again when he’s here.” Chihoko poured herself another glass. “I have a few things I want to show him.” Chihoko rustled her pockets, and Hiroko couldn’t hide her winces when she heard marbles knock into each other. She gave Chihoko a disapproving look. Chihoko shook her pockets harder until Hiroko told her to stop.

“Finish your sake and leave.” That was all Hiroko could say before her anger could get the best of her.

“You wouldn’t turn away a client.”

_ “Nor should you neglect the souls in your pockets,” _ Hiroko hissed. She turned the other cheek, apologized for her tone, and got up to serve another client with a smile. There was no point in arguing with a siren, especially a cheeky one that would only crawl under Hiroko’s skin with words.

“Oh, Hiroko~” Chihoko’s voice fluttered a few notes just as she finished her second glass of sake.  _ “You shouldn’t have too much faith in the blood in your veins.” _ For the first time, Chihoko’s gaze softened with a knowing-smile. “Being a descendent of a Katsuki doesn’t mean everything.”

“Please stay away from my family if you know what’s good for you.”

Chihoko shrugged. “I’m trying the best that I can, but Hiroko. Nothing can stop me when I have a soul to save.”

Hiroko turned so quickly that even Chihoko had something to fear from a mere mortal. No,  _ from a mother. _


	22. Simple Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of good things happened to me today, despite me not feeling well. So it inspired this little sick!fic of sorts, where the simplest things can bring much joy

When Yuuri was sick one day, he couldn't go to the beach for his morning walk. He couldn't go to work to see his companions or the seals that he tended to. He couldn't go home and taste his mom's katsudon, or soak in the hot springs, or play shogi with his dad, or pretend to be a sidekick with Mari.

Yuuri was alone. Vicchan had gone to stay at his parents’ house for a yearly vet check up. The bathtub and sink were dry and empty, and Yuuri drank a few pops from the fridge for nourishment. The cans crumbled and fell into the trash.

But despite being sick, Yuuri left his apartment and strolled around on the boardwalk. His steps accompanied by the distant gulls over the horizon. A plucky bird with velvet wings perched near him with a marble in its beak, but Yuuri paid it no attention when he glanced at the beach and the water before retreating for the day.

In the afternoon, Yuuko and Takeshi visited him and showed him so videos of the seals and of the other rescued animals. Laughter rang loud and clear in the apartment and transferred to home when Yuuri was accompanied back to Yuutopia Hot Springs. Yuuko held his arm and Takeshi followed from behind, ready to catch Yuuri if he fell.

At home, Hiroko squeezed every inch of her son when Yuuri stepped past the threshold, and Toshiya bounced into the embrace. Mari wore a medical mask when she hugged her brother, and she held up a bag of gummy vitamins that they can enjoy. And with katsudon and gummies in his tummy, Yuuri snuggled with Vicchan on the couch and everything felt great yet a bit lonely at the same time.

Until Yuuri perked up when he saw a flash of scales, and a beautiful fish was given to him. Tied around the tail was a shoelace with a silver ring hanging over the thread.


	23. 'Cause It's My Second Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Viktor experience their second kiss.

The first time mer!Viktor and Yuuri kissed, Viktor bled out Yuuri’s lower lip. The kiss was sweet at first with a softness that Viktor didn’t expect, and the saltiness of the sea for Yuuri to taste. And then...bam! _Blood._ Viktor flailed his apologies until he ran out of chirps to say, and Yuuri asked if Viktor had watched some people to get an idea of what he should do. Viktor didn’t hesitate when he nodded and chirped about how he hid below the water’s surface so that no one suspected anything.

The second kiss was more intimate. Yuuri had shared a lot of his firsts with Viktor... _not in that way._ There were still a lot of trivial activities and little acts of joy that could be done and said before Yuuri could ask the burning question that he never thought he would think or say. But during this past year, since he first met Viktor at the water’s edge during a misty March morning, all this time that they’ve spent together has to led to something more.

Frankly, Yuuri was a bit terrified, more than usual, when he walked Vicchan by the beach one morning. It was the day before his birthday and Yuuri didn’t bring the usual fish with him when he whistled to call Viktor closer to the beach. With a familiar splash, Viktor rose to the surface with Makkachin and there was a wiggly little octopus between his teeth and squirming across his neck and chest. Breath hitched at the back of his throat, Yuuri told Viktor that he couldn’t take the octopus. Viktor flinched in response.

This was the first time Yuuri had ever denied one of his gifts! To say that Viktor wasn’t worried was a lie, and Yuuri had to cover his bases.

“I don’t think we need to give each other food anymore,” Yuuri spoke gently so that Viktor wouldn’t take it as a lecture. “But we can still give each other gifts.”

Viktor cocked his head to the side. For a mer, giving each food was the best gift. But then, Viktor had to keep in mind that Yuuri functioned differently from him. Maybe the octopus was a bit of a stretch for a morning snack.

Breathing softly, Yuuri took his first timid steps into the water until the waves rode past his ankles, and he met Viktor as an equal. He met Viktor where the mer was most comfortable and... _Gosh, Yuuri should’ve thought this through better._ Yuuri pointed to forehead, and Viktor flicked his bangs so that they would cover his own. Was there something weird on Viktor’s forehead? The mer didn’t know, but Yuuri brushed his bangs back.

 _“That’s not what I meant.”_ Yuuri perched a kiss on Viktor’s forehead, and the mer sunk low into the water. Bubbles frothing from around his nose and mouth as a burning pink painted his face. When Viktor cooled down, he pointed at one of Yuuri’s hands. Glancing between Makkachin and VIcchan’s, Viktor scooted a little closer to Yuuri and rested Yuuri’s hand against his cheek. A bit of purr escaped from Viktor’s lips when he felt the warmth and touch of a lover. It felt like a hand-and-cheek hug until Viktor migrated his lips to the center of Yuuri’s palm and kissed.

Little pecks at first before deepening the kiss and striking electricity up and down Yuuri’s arm. He couldn’t kiss Viktor because of the octopus earlier but one day, Yuuri hoped that he could feel the same touch on his own lips before he had to part from Viktor to go to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an epic chapter-update tomorrow for Yuuri's birthday


	24. Want and Need

Viktor knew that he wasn't Human, but why was he  _ hurt?  _ Hurt because for the first time, Yuuri didn't accept one of his morning gifts. Viktor knew that this day would come, where the differences between him and Yuuri couldn't be blurred at the lines, and Viktor thought that he was ready to accept it. But this morning, after all the little joys they've been through, Viktor had let down his guard and recognized Love’s burning sting as he snacked on an octopus while Makkachin nested in his hair.

While tearing into a writhing tentacle, Viktor felt a lunge. Deep inside his chest, as if his heart wanted to rip out and reunite with its missing piece. It startled Makkachin and she fluttered in distress when Viktor coughed out his food and gazed up to the flickering lights above.

A bird had flown by and a velvet feather floated on top of the water’s edge. A teal and green marble  _ plopped  _ into the water, and Viktor’s heart told him to approach it. And the closer Viktor got, the more he felt…

The marble was pulled up by a long fishing net, extended from the edge of the pier, and that was the closest Viktor had ever felt to being Human.

His soul was still here on Earth and when he swam closer to the pier to see who scooped up the marble, Viktor’s gave met the cruel beak of a siren's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did Chihoko do? And why did she?


	25. Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri gets a lot of surprises on his birthday.

When Yuuri turned over on November 29th and gathered his shoes for another morning walk by the beach, his mind kept flickering back to the kiss yesterday. To the kiss he gave to Viktor, to the kiss that Viktor gave to him. The warm and affectionate touches tingled the palm of his hand, and Yuuri squeezed up and down his arm to fizzle out the electricity that was still in him.

“I really do--” Yuuri cut himself off when he noticed that Vicchan wasn’t by his side. The poodle was snoozing in bed, a bit under the weather with a runny nose. Yuuri tore open the bag of dog food he had and scooped some pellets into Vicchan’s bowl. Bits and pieces dribbled out from the bowl and rolled around on the wooden floor, but that was intentional on Yuuri’s part before he grabbed his keys and left the apartment. He made a mental note to visit Vicchan again before heading to work, and Yuuri whistled a little tune as the boardwalk near his apartment melted into squishy sand by the sea.

He wondered if he should tell Viktor that today was his birthday. Would the mer understand the meaning or significance behind it? Then again, today was just an ordinary day, regardless of whose birthdate it belonged to. But when Yuuri heard the familiar splashes and whistles near the water’s edge, it quickened Yuuri’s heart and he ran towards the sea. Arms open wide.

Even if today was ordinary to the rest of the world, there was always something extraordinary when Yuuri met Viktor by the sea. And for Yuuri’s twenty-fifth birthday, this was a heartwarming gift after a long year.

But Viktor wasn't there.

Yuuri’s arms fell to his side when a velvet wing extended from the morning fog and caressed his cheek.

_ “Hello, Yuuri.” _

It had been fifteen years since Yuuri last heard that voice. He couldn't move, not with Chihoko emerging from the fog with a sashay riding over her hips. A Greek shawl trickling over her shoulders and down her body. Her wings were folded when she came close but if she was farther away, her wingspan could've easily engulfed the horizon.

“Why are you here?” It was all Yuuri could manage before Chihoko embraced him with all her body and souls. The little sack of marbles laced around her thigh touched and accentuated how little her prey was. She could crush Yuuri if he commanded so, but Yuuri pulled away from her hold and stumbled back up the beach.  _ “Why are you here?” _

Chihoko rolled a marble between her talons. “Don't I make you happy?”

“You--”

_ “ Or do you want this back?”  _ Chihoko plucked a deep blue marble with a pink streak swirling around inside. Yuuri flinched forward when Chihoko playfully threw the marble up and caught it with ease. _ “Yuuri, I'm here to collect.” _

“Stay away from me.”

Chihoko squawked, but her expression never changed despite Yuuri’s sudden confidence. Fifteen years ago, Yuuri begged on his knees to forget a fear. And even afterwards, he was still skittish because Chihiko couldn't take away all the memories. Because if she could, she'd have Yuuri’s soul. And well, a siren couldn't have an incomplete marble in their collection.

But for now, Chihoko had her share of enjoyment. The wall that had crumbled around Yuuri was rebuilt, and his heart and mind were guarded.

The fog over the beach lifted when Chihoko flew up to the Heavens, but her true roost rested somewhere in Hell when Yuuri whistled out to the sea but Viktor never came up. No portal appeared in the bathroom, where Viktor would've slid into the bathtub to watch his crime shows. No portal showed up at work when Yuuri played and fed the seals.

Where was Viktor? Did Chihoko…did she?

No matter how many times Yuuri whistled around water, nothing happened. And perhaps, it was a greater fear than his aversion to the sea.

_ “Yuuri.” _

Yuuri threw his arms around Viktor’s shoulders and held the mer close late during the night, and he refused to let go. Until Viktor managed a weak bark and Yuuri pulled away and froze. Because down Viktor’s left cheek was a cut that extended all the way… Viktor gently pulled Yuuri’s hand down when the later tried to brush a mop of bangs out of the way.

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and Viktor chirped softly when he held Yuuri in his arms.


	26. Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really inspired today so I'm sorry for all the updates on today! I have one more snippet for today so please bear with me.

When Chihoko hurt him, when she tore out his eye because he looked at his soul, when Chihoko cursed and told him to stay away from Yuuri, when Chihoko brushed her fingers over Viktor’s injury, when she whispered into his ear to consult him because of his _ mistake,  _ and so on and so forth… When all of those things were done, Viktor found comfort when Makkachin cuddled next to him. Viktor hid below the pier and stayed above the water's surface so it wouldn't sting his injuries. Makkachin came up occasionally with food and soft seagrass for Viktor to hold against his pains.

Viktor thought about visiting Yuuri, but he couldn't. Not because Chihoko’s empty words invaded his head, but he didn't want Yuuri to pity him. He didn't want Yuuri to worry. He didn't want Yuuri to be sad or cry or… Viktor hugged Makkachin close to him so that  _ he _ wouldn't cry. Viktor held Makkachin close because he was hurt, both body and soul. Because his soul yearned to reunite, and Viktor’s body suffered the wrath of a siren.

Who was he supposed to be?

_ Viktor, no one on this Earth is supposed to be alone. _

_ No one on this Earth deserves to be alone. _

Viktor wailed until his voice grew hoarse and realized that people could hear him. He submerged when hurried footsteps echoed over his head, and Viktor retreated to his lonely bed of seagrass beneath the pier. Makkachin squeaked and tucked Viktor in. She squeaked about fish, about life, and about love when she hugged Viktor and flapped away the steady stream of blood from Viktor’s left eye. Or, what was left of it.

Being Human meant enduring pain.

_ The pain you feel today is a pain you'll experience every day until the wounds heal. _

Where was this voice coming from? Foreign yet familiar, a voice of a mother that used to tuck him in and hold him.


	27. Because It's My First Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor finally admits that he wants to be Human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last snippet for today, Nov 29th.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this and the past two snippets. I was very inspired on this precious day.

Viktor wasn’t sure how he met Yuuri or how Fate threw their lives together and tangled the events with an annoying red string, but the mer found solace when he held Vicchan in his arms late that night. Right after Viktor and Yuuri embraced after a long November 29th, Yuuri stumbled down a quiet hallway to get a first aid kit for Viktor’s injury. He was gone for quite some time, and Viktor purred when Vicchan snuggled close to him. Despite his personal illness and fatigue, Vicchan never left Viktor’s side. Perhaps, the two were able to see eye-to-eye after kicked from their pedestal and groveled on the “ground” where they crawled as equals.

When Yuuri came back, he saw Viktor whispering something into Vicchan’s ear and the poodle wagged his tail slowly to show his support. Yuuri wasn’t quite sure what he had stumbled upon, but he brushed the curiosity for just a moment. For just a moment, he wanted to sit next to Viktor as the mer draped his upper body out from a saltwater-jug that stood a bit behind the hot springs at home.  _ Yuuri’s childhood home.  _ It dawned on him that this was the first time Viktor has visited but with the given situation, it was best to keep the scene private for Viktor’s sake.

Viktor gave a slow bow of the head for his thanks when Yuuri rubbed stinging ointment onto his facial injury. A soaked cotton swab ran down the length of his face, and Yuuri mumbled under his breath if Viktor had any of his shots. Question marks bubbled from Viktor’s gaze, and Yuuri scratched the back of his head.

_ “I guess not,”  _ he whispered softly. The best that Yuuri could do was apply band aids over the left side of Viktor’s face so that the scratch-- _ or claw mark-- _ could heal properly. There was so much that Yuuri didn’t know, and how would he know the rest? Viktor knew a few words, but not enough for a full conversation and right now, Viktor preferred silence when he touched his face and breathed softly.

After a hundred and twenty years since his first death, Viktor wanted to be Human and he whistled a little tune to grab Yuuri’s attention before his conveying his thoughts and feelings... _ through words. _ Bits of Russian crept from Viktor’s lips, rusty from age. A few shrills and squeaks blended in for comfortability, and Yuuri perked up at the bits and pieces of Japanese that shone through Viktor’s message. Viktor spoke, even when he didn’t understand his own words, because he wanted to make himself clear to Yuuri.

Viktor made his  _ desire  _ known. Though it was going to be rough and Viktor would have to act like a “proper mer” for once in his afterlife, he glanced up to Yuuri and squeaked,  _ “When I...When I walk again.”  _ Viktor spoke slowly. His throat was dry, but he had to continue because Yuuri’s eyes were on him and him alone.  _ “Can you…?”  _ Viktor clasped his hand onto Yuuri’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly.  _ “Walk with me?” _

Viktor didn’t have everything. He lost his prior memories once his soul left his body. He lost his family and their love. He lost his companionship because he didn’t act like the other mers. He lost his left eye because of a siren. He lost his dignity and his strength when he succumbed to the feelings he hid deep inside.

But what was guaranteed in life was not death nor taxes, but an accompanying hand for when one needed to walk again.


	28. A Voice Just As Sweet

If it was appropriate to call a mer a demon, then a siren was an angel. A soul bound to earth, having lost its body to the dangers at sea. Very much like a mer for they were wandering halves of a whole, but more chained by the sins they carried. For there was no road to Heaven for an ill spirit, but one could briefly grace their wings to the warmth and light as souls ferried to the next life.

For a siren, collecting souls was a mere business to atone for their shackled sins. Never seen because of the Greek garment they wore, but a loose link of chain preferred to coil around the torso to weigh a siren down. It was their burden to bear. But once a siren has come clean of their past sins, they were able to join Heaven and were free of such shackles.

Evident by the cheerful and often helpful nature that so many embodied to do more pleasure than pain, but there were some who thought better. If a siren was just a soul without a body, whose to say that a siren couldn't do more to find personal fulfillment? All one needed was a body to become Human again.

To inhabitant a soulless mer was a pain. Because who would be in control, the body  _ or _ the brain? To inhabitant a Human, well, sacrifices had to be made and it was the first time Temptation waved his finger at Chihoko when she was a good fledgling. When she was a good siren who did as she was told until she saw a curious Human standing over the edge of a ship near the coast of Eurasia.

Silver hair rolled down his face as the salty breeze alleviated whatever worries or pains that ate away at him from the inside out. Chihoko flew closer, hid behind a sail as the Human looked out to the sea. He was alone and Chihoko could see the beautiful marble nestled inside his chest. Perched on the sail, Chihoko hopped down onto the deck with a soft landing. The noise turned the Human’s gaze.

“Who are you?”

Chihoko rolled the accent off her tongue with ease.  _ “Your guardian angel.”  _ She scanned the Human, up and down with a coy smile.  _ “Viktor.” _

One could hear Viktor gulp because the sea stood still.  _ Clear as day,  _ Chihoko thought as she approached Viktor with firm steps.


	29. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the chess pieces aligned on the game board, the Knight has stepped forward to protect the piece that matters the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mari's badassery comes into light. Then again, she was a badass to begin with XD

When Mari was a little girl, she learned about her ability. From a mere glance, there was nothing special to note about her. Objects didn’t move on their own, she didn’t have a commanding voice like her mother when it came to questions, and Mari exhibited no signs of a manifestation until she ate a sweet before dinner and her mother asked,  _ “Sweetheart, did you snack before dinner?” _

Granted, Hiroko saw her daughter snack on a cookie when her back was turned, but Mari spoke her lie so confidentially that Hiroko had to ask the same question again. And again, Mari’s response didn’t waver or change because she wasn’t affected by Hiroko’s ability. That  was when Mari learned of her ability:  _ the ability to guard her mind against mental and verbal powers.  _ She was invincible to her mother’s questions, but Mari was weak to Hiroko’s disapproving look when she chirped about how she saw Mari snack on a cookie earlier and Mari caved in and admitted the truth.

Ever since then, Mari figured that she had the marks to be a hero. The true heroics didn’t appear until after Yuuri was born a few years later, and Mari vowed to protect her brother when she held onto his little hand as Yuuri snoozed in his crib.

_ “I’ll be your best hero,”  _ she whispered, a toothpick between her teeth when Yuuri rolled over and sucked on his thumb.  _ Gosh,  _ Mari couldn’t count all the times that she had saved Yuuri’s life. Whether it was from a grumpy gull or a bug or a vegetable, Mari would sweep in from the sidelines and scoop Yuuri out of harm’s way and proclaim herself as his hero. Yuuri played along and he truly believed in his sister’s heroics and when he was a little older, he tagged along as Mari’s sidekick.

Toshiya would play as the innocent bystander while Hiroko mused herself as the villain. But after all the games and the messes left behind at the family’s hot springs, the four of them came together as a family and bonded over food, warmth, and laughter. And once again, Mari felt like an ordinary girl. Not because a hero didn’t deserve a family or warmth, but because there was never a threat that could harm her family. Everything was the same, day in and day out. No alibis, no capes despite the blankets, and no one that Mari could fight.

Because in a sleepy town like Hasetsu, fighting and heroics were mere legends that walked on the streets. Only told between whispers, but never truly seen. Because there was no need, and Mari traded her toothpick for a pack of cigarettes when she finally grew up and threw the heroics behind her.

Until now.

As she spewed smoke from her lips like a rusty dragon, awoken from its slumber, Mari tapped her cigarette into an ashtray and flipped past the yellow pages in her mother’s  _ Book of Monsters. _ Dragons, fae, and serpents skimmed past Mari’s eyes until she met the entry for  _ Siren.  _ There, she smushed her cigarette into itself and blew a smoke-ring over her head. One of her fingers ran down the length of the page.

_ Sirens rarely exhibit fear in the face of obscurity, but all Sirens fear of what killed them first. _

Mari reread the line just to be sure that she read it correctly. All sirens were afraid of what killed them first, huh? Mari’s lips twisted into a smile before she flopped onto her bed and sighed.  _ Great,  _ out of all of the things on this godforsaken Earth, what  _ was  _ Chihoko afraid of?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes "Arc 1" of the Mer!Ficlet~
> 
> I'm going to write another oneshot for this ficlet so in the meantime unfortunately, this ficlet won't be updated daily like usual because I'm going to be working. Once the oneshot is complete, I will continue this ficlet and we'll enter into "Arc 2"
> 
> In the meantime, if you want to see snippets of the oneshot before I post it here, you can check out #fanfic preview or #merman au on @yuuris-piano to get an idea of what I'm working on. I'll be back in about a month to update this ficlet, daily, again~
> 
> Have fun, peeps~!


	30. Compilation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Arc 1 of this ficlet ends, I want to share some tumblr-snippets I did while working on my most recent mer!shot,[ East of Eden](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12947913/chapters/29594415). If you have not read part 1, I recommend doing so. Because the next snippet in this ficlet follows right after part 2 of the mer!shot.

**Colors**

Something that Makkachin always noticed was that Viktor’s scales changed with the seasons.

In Spring, he had a slight pink hue riding over his tail and up his arms– _ growing darker and darker as the color reached to his neck and blossomed a faint brush of bronze.  _ In the Summer, haughty violets and streaks of baby blue dressed Viktor’s scales and he was an iridescent under a cloudless night. In Fall, maroon snaked down from his neck and hands while Viktor spent the majority of his time beneath the pier and shied away from the frigid currents. In Winter, Viktor wore the darkest purple coat that Nature could sew with round, dark specks of blue randomly dotting his tail with every swish of a fin.

But ever since Viktor met Yuuri, there was only one coat that he wore.

_ Light pinks blossomed into haughty purples, but ribboned with flecks of gold and white and navy. _

Viktor pressed all of the seasons against his skin because he couldn’t imagine any without Yuuri.

**Mer!Viktor**

The first time Viktor opened his eyes, he never realized how beautiful water was until he was beneath the surface. Light flickered from through the clouds and illuminated the waves and filtered through his hair and the scales adorning his skin. Such a peaceful sight after so much pain, yet Viktor never knew what happened because his soul transcended to the other side and his body was no longer his own.

What was this life? Viktor wasn’t sure until he touched his neck and felt gills for the first time. Slits that filtered in and out water and felt as natural as everything else on him. Floating in this watery space, Viktor darted his gaze but found no one. Not a fish, nor companion, but just a few ripples from a ship that had passed by with a velvet feather floating above the waves.

When he tried to remember of what he was doing before, Viktor flinched and whipped his tail out in front of him as if a monster had lunged out from the depths for him. But unmistakably, he was alone.

**Hair**

When one imagines a mer, they expect long and flowing hair. Bouncing locks that seem to curl and cling to the neck before a mer surfaces and flips their hair back. An enormous wave cascades to the side, and it’s as if the mer has just stepped out from a photoshoot and a bucket of sardines is waiting on an accompanying boat.

When Yuuri imagines a mer, he imagines short and bleached hair from all the salt and sun. Silver bangs floating every which way, and they bob along the currents or when the mer suddenly decides to dart left or right. And when the mer surfaces, a slap of hair blocks his vision. The hair is stuck to his face before he reveals an eye and sees Yuuri on the beach as Vicchan tears into patch of sand that he really likes. And before Yuuri could wave back, an enormous wave comes through and decorates the mer in seaweed and a crab before he spits out water like in a cartoon.

This is Viktor. He might not get sardine for all his troubles, but he gets plenty of hugs as he shoots up to the beach and tackles Yuuri into the sand.

**How I Met You**

Toshiya was a man of a few words. Given, that was a lie when he felt comfortable with someone and his mouth talked a mile a minute because there was much to say. Though words seemed a bit cliché because the world wasn't meant for it, Toshiya would've never met Hiroko if he had been truly distracted by the gorgeous sunset in the Miyagi Prefecture.

He was around his early twenties, coming home by train after meeting a good friend since university. The sunset was prettier than he'd imagine. It was the very definition of what a sunset should be with all the orange and red and pink. How the light filtered through the trees in a Heavenly way to accentuate the beauty of the countryside. If only he had more memory on his camera, but Toshiya’s memory was pretty good about things like this. If only he could share this moment with…

“Is someone sitting here?” A pearly voice perked Toshiya’s ears. To his left stood a flowery girl with a bright sundress and hat. A camera loosely hung over her neck and she gestured to the seat next to Toshiya.

He moved his things, and she sat down. She pulled off her hat and velvet locks tickled her neck when they fell, enamoring Toshiya when he twiddled with his thumbs. Light talk blossomed between him and  _ Hiroko, Toshiya later learned her name just before he left at a station. _

They shook hands, and Toshiya was sure that they would never meet again. He was from the city. Hiroko was going to get off in a sleepy town's station. Their worlds were too far apart. Or so Toshiya thought.

“I guess this is our last time together.”

Toshiya was about to agree, but his mouth whispered,  _ “No.” _

Toshiya didn't know at the time that Hiroko wasn't like any other girl he had met before, but it didn't matter. Was it cliché to say that he felt a connection? His children thought so when they heard the story.

“It sounds just like you and Mom,” Mari said. “A sweet talk at a sunset couldn't have gone any other way. “

**Matters of a Heart**

Sometimes when the inn had too much food- _ -or when Hiroko insisted on making too much food- _ -Mari would bring the leftovers to Yuuri’s seaside apartment. She used to come by and visit often when Yuuri first moved in, mostly because Yuuri wasn’t used to being separate from home when home was so close and dear to his heart. But as the months came and went, the visits became less frequent. Yuuri would come home almost every week for a bit of a recharge but since Hiroko made some extra katsudon, Mari volunteered to bring the bowls over to her brother for old time’s sake.

Yuuri’s apartment was as shabby as ever, but the festive lights that the parents had forgotten from the summer time lifted the building’s mood when Mari knocked on the door. Yuuri opened and escorted his sister inside. As usual, luggage was piled anywhere and everywhere, and Vicchan was chewing on a plastic toy when Mari placed the food on what was left of Yuuri’s kitchen counter.

“Mom made extra katsudon.”

“She makes the best.” Yuuri peeled back the plastic coverings and sniffed the crispy pork cutlets. Mari skimmed through Yuuri’s fridge and raised an eyebrow when she a newspaper-wrapped fish. She naturally asked Yuuri why he had one, and Yuuri replied back that it was a gift for a mer.

It took Yuuri five seconds to realize what he had just said.

Mari didn’t bother in hiding her smile. “So Dad was right when he said you were seeing someone.”

Yuuri nearly dropped his bowl of katsudon. “He told?”

“Mom has her ways,” Mari replied back, watching as the pink and red in Yuuri’s face flushed out. “Speaking of that…” Mari whistled for Vicchan to jump into her arms, but the poodle simply poked his nose against Mari’s leg before retreating up into Yuuri’s bed in the studio space. “Do you like this guy? This mer?”

An odd question for Mari to ask, but Yuuri didn’t think much of it. “Viktor’s a good--”

_ “Do you like Viktor because you do like him, or are you reciprocating his feelings to make him happy?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of "East of Eden" will be out in a few weeks. Either before or on New Year's, so be on the lookout. As always, you can find previews of part 2 on my tumblr. Search the tag #fanfic preview


	31. A Mer Named Viktor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Viktor spent most of the day in Yuuri’s bathtub, watching _Backstreet Crime Watch_ with Makkachin, Yuuri interviewed his family and close-friends on their thoughts/opinions of Viktor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's those moments where you're making a tumblr-exclusive mer!snippet, but it's so adorable that you want to share it to the AO3 collection while you're working on a mer!oneshot at the same time.
> 
> This snippet has to be my all-time favorite because I got to write the different sides/angles to Viktor's character through different p.o.vs

**Takeshi:** When he first met Viktor, Takeshi slapped the mer with a newspaper because Viktor’s head popped up in a pail of sardines. After screaming his head off and spilling the sardines for some penguins, Takeshi learned that Viktor “portaled” himself to meet Yuuri. And unfortunately, he wanted to snack on some sardines before meeting his precious human. Other than the scare and the pale face that Takeshi sported for the rest of the day, he somewhat enjoyed the mer’s company. Even if Viktor loved competing with the other marine animals in the rehabilitation center, and even if Viktor distracted him often with requests for sardines so that he could gift them to Yuuri.

The childish-innocence and the bright eyes that seemed to accompany each and every one of Viktor’s toothy grins warmed Takeshi. He wasn’t comfortable with the mer yet, but Viktor was a lot like a kid. A lot like Takeshi’s daughters and the way they smiled. So in Takeshi’s book, Viktor was worth protecting whenever the mer got into trouble.

**Yuuko:** She first met Viktor when his tail got tangled in a fishing net. Yuuri had rushed Viktor into the clinic, panting because he cradled the mer in his arms. Yuuko never forgot the desperation and fear that clouded Yuuri’s eyes when he rested Viktor on one of the operation tables. Yuuko worked quick and snipped the fishing net. She checked Viktor’s vitals and told Yuuri to give Viktor some space. What the mer needed was a safe place to calm down and seeing Yuuri flustered wasn’t going to help the situation. So after Yuuri left and calmed himself down before going back to work, Yuuko blew up an inflatable pool for Viktor to rest in and the mer gave a thankful nod.

Viktor looked stoic, lost in thought when he laid back in the pool and fingered through all the words he wanted to say. His Japanese surprised Yuuko a bit, and Viktor’s voice made the words sound harsher than they were meant to be. However, Yuuko found it sweet that Viktor was learning bits and pieces of Japanese so that he could talk to Yuuri better. The shine in Viktor’s eyes grew when Yuuko offered to help Viktor on his Japanese, and the mer squeaked and chirped in excitement.

**Mari:** A tough cookie. Mari was almost opposed to the whole mer-and-human relationship, considering Yuuri’s eventful past with other supernatural creatures. And when Mari found out that Viktor nearly drowned Yuuri when he was a kid, she had a shotgun-mentality before meeting the mer for the first time. Viktor didn’t know what to expect, but he brought Makkachin as a peace offering. The puffer fish floated around in a fish bowl as Mari grilled Viktor through an interrogation. Somehow, Viktor survived to tell the tale afterwards.

Though Viktor looked goofy, he made his strength known when he told Mari _–through broken Japanese and hisses-_ -that he aimed to protect and to preserve Yuuri’s happiness. That if anyone tried to harm Yuuri, Viktor promised that he would be the first-line of defense to keep him safe. Mari almost backed away a bit when she met Viktor’s frigid gaze. At that moment, she discovered that Chihoko had left her mark on Viktor because of Yuuri. However, Viktor wasn’t going to back down without a fight.

**Hiroko:** She grew to cherish Viktor when she realized how happy Yuuri had been ever since he met the mer. Sure, Hiroko may’ve been a bit nervous that her son was interacting with Viktor, but there was nothing to fear because old blood-history flowed through Yuuri’s veins. And Viktor should’ve known better than to attack if he wanted to swim for another day. And thankfully, Viktor never attacked Yuuri because the mer was in smitten.

The way Viktor would chirp and gasp a little when Yuuri interacted with him reminded Hiroko of her own interactions with Toshiya when they were younger. Of how Toshiya would brighten up when Hiroko was around, and how the two would chat for hours at a time before one or the other had to retire for the night.

**Toshiya:** He took a selfie with Viktor once. Toshiya made the classic peace-sign while Viktor exposed his jagged teeth to the phone-camera. While the picture was kinda disturbing, Toshiya laughed and commented on how pretty Viktor’s smile was. Viktor had the kind of smile that would strike fear into anyone, but there was a playful-angle to the gesture that could warm anybody’s heart.

**Bonus Vicchan:** As long as they got to make a mess in the bathroom with soapy water, Vicchan loved Viktor with all his doggy-lives.


	32. What's a Soulmate?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finale to Arc 1

_ Well, it's like a best friend, but more. _ _   
_ Every morning without fail, Viktor approached Hasetsu’s shore with a beautiful fish between his teeth. Right on cue, Yuuri emerged from the boardwalk and was coming down to the water’s edge. Behind his back was a newspaper-wrapped fish. Just as Viktor chirped and squeaked when his favorite human came to hug him, Yuuri felt warmth blossom over his heart.

_ It's the one person in the world that knows you better than anyone else. _ _   
_ Despite him telling the mer that they shouldn’t meet anymore, Viktor always came to visit Yuuri. Whether it was through soft chirps from the kitchen sink or when the mer discovered that he could portal to wherever Yuuri was, Viktor never failed to pop in and surprise Yuuri. Viktor didn’t know if Yuuri was upset about anything that he did, or if Yuuri didn’t like him anymore. The only thought that circulated in Viktor’s mind was that he wanted to see Yuuri smile. The big, toothy smiles that would lift Yuuri’s entire face. Viktor had only seen it once.

But if Yuuri did want him to leave, Viktor came to accept that too when he popped up at Yuuri’s work to chirp,  _ “Goodbye.”  _ But the mer flinched when Yuuri seized him into an embrace, burying his face into the crook of Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor didn’t quite understand, but he drew small circles along Yuuri’s shoulder and comforted his human. Yuuri didn’t want him to go.

_ It's someone who makes you a better person. _ _   
_ Yuuri grew an ounce braver every time he approached the sea. Tentative at first while Viktor guided him towards the water with a soft hand. Viktor took a deep breath along with Yuuri. It felt like they were going into the water together, even though Viktor was in the water first. Yuuri’s foot hovered the water before he took his first step forward.

_ Actually, they don't make you a better person. _ _   
_ Yuuri’s eyes never left the water until he looked up. Viktor was in front of him, squeaking and clapping his hands together. Viktor and Yuuri weren’t holding hands anymore yet, what motivated Yuuri to walk this far?

_ You do that yourself because they inspire you. _ _   
_ The trill of Viktor’s voice tickled Yuuri’s ears. The mer cupped a handful of water and gently poured it over Yuuri’s head. The droplets ran through his hair when Viktor congratulated him. Yuuri had never seen so much pride and joy swelled into one figure before, but here was Viktor. Eyes shining as if he held the golden horizon in his hands.

_ A soul mate is someone who you carry with you forever. _ _   
_ Whenever Viktor was in one of his moods, Yuuri would hoist the mer into his arms and bring him up to the beach. Spinning around, Viktor would alternate between shrieking and laughing before Yuuri lost his balance and they both fell into the baking, hot sand. When the waves came up and drenched Viktor’s sides, he turned his head and found Yuuri. Yuuri moved his arms and legs to create a mud-angel along the beach’s side.

_ It's the one person who knew you _ _   
_ Viktor never had the courage to speak until he met Yuuri. Because of how harsh his voice sounded, he was afraid that Yuuri would laugh or tease about his pronunciations. But despite the slight fright that pricked up and down Yuuri’s arm when he heard Viktor’s actual voice, Yuuri never failed to be patient.

When Viktor stumbled over his words, Yuuri helped sound out the syllables until Viktor could repeat it back. When Viktor forgot about the previous night’s lesson, Yuuri had a review sheet made. There were pictures next to the words so that Viktor could remember the meaning. When Viktor wanted to say Yuuri’s name properly, his voice was velvety smooth when the name rolled off his tongue. Yuuri recorded the moment onto his phone, and he listened to it sometimes at night while he cuddled with Vicchan.

_ Accepted you _ _   
_ Viktor wasn’t a monster in Yuuri’s eyes. 

_ And believed in you _ _   
_ For the second time in his afterlife, Viktor cried. Yuuri promised that he would help Viktor adjust to society when he was human again.

_ Before anyone else did or when no one else would. _ _   
_ Viktor had never interacted with many individuals ever since he became a mer. Meeting Yuuri motivated Viktor to be open. And when he was open, Yuuri met him with an extended hand.

_ And no matter what happens _ _   
_ Even after Chihoko threatened Viktor, even after he lost his eye to the siren...

_ You'll always love them. _ _   
_ Viktor couldn’t imagine his  _ now, his life,  _ without Yuuri.

_ Nothing can ever change that. _ _   
_ Viktor had vowed to protect Yuuri. Because life would be meaningless if he couldn’t save the person that helped him smile again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will come out when the last part of "East of Eden" has been posted. 35% finished with that :"D


	33. Arc 2: Suddenly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What if Viktor is human?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, everybody! I’m resuming my daily ficlets for this mer!collection because I’ve finished probably the biggest project I’ve ever done for this series. If you haven’t read the [ latest and final chapter ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12947913/chapters/30176283) for _East of Eden,_ I recommend reading it before you begin reading this chapter and the rest that will soon come and follow. Spoilers or not, the ending of that chapter kicks off ARC 2 of Mer!Ficlet. **:D**

_“Isn’t that Viktor?”_

Yuuri didn’t believe Yuuko’s words at first. The television in the break room played behind his back, but Yuuri wasn’t deaf to the news report. Especially after Yuuko turned up the volume so that he could hear the news better as he washed out his hands.

_“This morning off the coast of Hasetsu Beach, a man was found unconscious in the sand.”_

The man could’ve been anyone. A tipsy sailor or shipmate that got while going home, a person that misjudged when summer was coming to Hasetsu, or perhaps it was someone who forgot to bring a jacket outside. Actually, all those thoughts worried Yuuri. He turned his head ever-so slightly to catch the television screen. However, the news jumped from the story and a commercial break played in its place. Leaving Yuuri with a bitter taste in his mouth, forced to watch through commercial after commercial of skin treatment lotions and other oddities before the broadcasting channel continued their “live” coverage.

“Live”- _-with the quotations-_ -should’ve been used on the channel’s banner as a news reporter and her crew walked-through the events of this morning. The leading camera panned over Hasetu Beach. Near the edge of the water, there was a distinct imprint of where someone had been lying earlier.

“How do you know it’s Viktor?”

Though Yuuri said it so casually, Yuuko couldn’t help but flinch. If Yuuri had been worried or was angry at her jumped-to conclusion, it would’ve been easier for Yuuko to handle but this? The neutrality of his tone? Yuuko was dealing with a wild card, and she treaded carefully. Her hands squeezed the remote control for strength.

“I overheard you and Takeshi talking earlier in the changing room.” That was a good premise to start with. “You mentioned that Viktor was a little touchy today, more so than usual.”

Yuuri adjusted his glasses with his thumb. “Yuuko?”

There was an awkward pause before Yuuko said, “Yes?” She squeaked when Yuuri sat next to her on the break room’s couch. Barely a few inches between them when Yuuri reached for the remote control and turned the television off. A ghost of a smile curved over his lips.

“You’re worried for him too.”

“I--” Yuuko coughed into her elbow before clearing her throat. A bit much for emphasize, but Yuuri’s words took her by surprise. Here Yuuko, fingers crossed that Yuuri might tick like an explosion. But in all her years of knowing him, she had never seen Yuuri explode. Never, but there were some rationale behind her fear. Because in all those previous years, Yuuri wasn’t never close to someone quite like how he was with Viktor.

“Do you need some water?” Yuuri asked her. Yuuko shook her head.

“You asked me if I was worried for Viktor, right?” Yuuko didn’t continue with her train of thought until Yuuri nodded his head, slowly. “That means you’re worried too, aren’t you?” Yuuri didn’t respond back for that one. Yuuko watched as Yuuri closed his mouth. “Yuuri, I think you know why Viktor was kind of touchy today. It can’t be a coincidence that that a man was found unconscious on a beach. _Hasetsu Beach.”_

Yuuri knew what Yuuko was leading up to. “How?” Yuuri squeezed the remote control in his hands. He shook so much that Yuuko laid one of her hands over Yuuri’s own, and her touch gently lured him back to reality.

He was in the break room at work. He was in a Marine Rehabilitation Centre, where the animals could easily pick-up that he was upset. He had seals and their pups to take care of, and they needed him. He couldn’t just…

“Yuuri.” Yuuko nudged him with her elbow, gently. “If you can hear me, can you nod?” Yuuri nodded. “Listen to me very carefully. After this break, I’ll cover your shift for fifteen minutes. Just run. Go to the beach and find Viktor. If you see him, hug him like you’ve never hugged him before. If he’s not there, call me. Call Takeshi. We’ll work something out so that you can go to the hospital where he’s at.”

 _“How?”_ Yuuri rubbed the bridge of his nose as tears began to spill. _“Why would he…? How did he…?”_

“The news reporter said that a man was found unconscious on the beach. What if…” Yuuko couldn’t believe she was saying this. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. _“What if Viktor’s human?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the continued support during the past month and a half. As 2018 comes around the corner, who knows what’ll happen next?


	34. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With 15 minutes at his disposal, Yuuri ran.

_ “What if Viktor’s human?” _

Yuuko’s words echoed in the back of his mind when Yuuri ran. His breaths trailed behind him, like footsteps in the sand before his own feet touched Hasetsu Beach. A few cameramen lingered near the water’s edge, as well as their equipment and a few chairs to rest in. The news reporter that looked so serious and concerned on television was photographing some sea shells she had found in the sand. The goofy expressions that she selfied with, the laughter that erupted in the camera crew as they packed up for the next location, and Yuuri cringed when some of the curious ones approached the “crime scene”.

Of course, tearing across the beach, were the Hasetsu’s cops and they bordered the beach imprint behind black and yellow tape. If the morning news was done, the crew and their reporter should be heading out to their next location. Emphasize on “heading out” when a woman in a trench coat whipped off her sunglasses when she approached the scene.

Still on the boardwalk, looking down the beach, Yuuri had a few plans in mind. His uniform came with a whistle when he needed to call the seals. Perhaps, if he blew hard enough, he might find Viktor. Okay, the plan had more holes than swiss cheese because Viktor was never trained with this specific whistle, it wasn’t safe to pop his head out with cops on the beach, and someone might ticket him for being a public nuisance. Bad idea.

The second plan wasn’t that much better. Yuuri would get as close to the beach as he possibly could. He would tell the cops that his dog _ \--Yuuri could feel Vicchan twitch in his morning nap-- _ ran out of the apartment earlier and he was looking for him. Yuuri would do his own personal whistles and hopefully catch a sight of Viktor’s scales. But if the officers heard Viktor’s song or forced Yuuri to continue his search at another time, it was game over.

_ “When legends meet reality,” _ Yuuri whispered under his breath. He couldn’t stay on the boardwalk for long. As the news vans piled out from Hasetsu Beach, Yuuri had to leave as well. The Hasetsu officers blocked the beach with their yellow and black tape, highlighting the scenery as if an attempted murder had happened.

With his fifteen minutes almost up, Yuuri was forced to jog back to the Marine Rehabilitation Centre. On the way, a few of Hasetsu’s ports approached him and Yuuri took a detour. Running up to the edge, Yuuri whistled. He listened. Silence. Yuuri shouted Viktor’s name. Nothing happened. Yuuri ran up and down one port to another. Every time he got to the edge, he whistled and called for Viktor. No one came up. The answers piled onto Yuuri’s shoulders, and Yuuko’s question resonated in his mind again.

_ Viktor really is... _ Yuuri gulped, trying to process the last word.  _ Viktor really is...human. _

The thought seemed ludicrous, crazy, almost like a dream. Yuuri never saw the face of the man that was found unconscious on Hasetsu Beach, but every nerve in his body was convinced that it was Viktor.

Viktor was human, and Yuuri didn’t stop his tears.


	35. Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the best treasures are the memories associated with them.

There was a treasure buried at the bottom of the sea. Bound to shoelace because it was the only chain that was worthy of this jewel. A silver ring, cheap on the market because of its rusted value. However, the luster and shine that captivated its finder’s eyes _ \--for there were originally two-- _ made it a treasure. A treasure that would soon be given and brought back.

But now, the ring was being given again. Drawn by the shouts and thundering footsteps, a puffer fish emerged from the water and squeaked to one of Hasetsu’s piers. Yuuri looked down. The lat of his tears spilled and splashed on top of Makkachin’s head. Makkachin threw the ring and shoelace necklace up, and Yuuri caught it.

It was like catching Viktor’s hand when the mer used to reach out when he wanted to prop his elbows on top of the pier so that he could see Yuuri better.


	36. Foreign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Viktor woke up, he found himself in a very different world.

The first person Viktor saw was a strange man with a...light of some sort in his hand. His other was wrapped around a circular metal plate, and the cold surface was against Viktor’s chest. Viktor’s eye lingered to another face, a woman who twisted some sort of tube around his arm and inserted a needle.

Voices approached his ear, but Viktor didn’t understand. He knew that the man and woman were talking to him, but what could he say? Their accents reminded him of Yuuri’s family, but the man and woman used words that Viktor had never heard before. Even when they slowed their speech and enunciated each and every word very carefully, all Viktor could do was draw a blank and wander his eye around the room.

Foreign beeps echoed to his right, coming from sort of contraption with a green line that zigzagged up and down. Someone snapped their fingers, and Viktor turned his head. It was the man. The woman, probably his assistant, thumbed through a few papers before muttering something into the man’s ear. At this point, Viktor ignored what they were doing and tried to sit up.

He was sitting on a bed, wearing a thin gown that left his backside exposed. He was somewhere, but where was he? Viktor needed to know. He tried to wave for someone’s attention, but Viktor was given some water to sip before he was tucked in like he was about to go to bed.

Where was Yuuri? Yuuri would know what to do. This was his world and Viktor was merely a visitor, whose mind was still stuck in the late nineteenth century.

“Any records for John Doe?” asked the doctor.

The nurse shook her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Viktor doesn't have any records, he's considered a "John Doe" so that it's easy to identify him.


	37. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year's

She asked Yuuri who he was, what connection did he have with Viktor, _aka John Doe,_ and why he was adamant that Viktor should get his medical shots. Yuuri wasn’t sure how to explain himself. Then again, he didn’t know where to start. What with being detained in an interrogation room at the Hasetsu Police HQ, Yuuri had to be careful with his words. Just beyond the placey glass that shone his reflection, there was a team of investigators and officers listening in on his answers when Yuuri spoke.

He loosened his jacket’s collar, licked his lips before met his investigator’s eyes. She was the detective that he had see on Hasetsu Beach, posed under the name of  _ Minato Looker  _ or  _ Looker Minato  _ if this was a western-setting. Minato had shrugged off her trench coat and loosened her own collar. Yuuri averted his eyes when Minato removed her tie and attempted to look at him at eye-level. A bit of a challenge because of her taller stature, but Minato shrunk herself to a more friendly posture.

“Mr. Katsuki, I... _ we,  _ need confirmation.” Minato tapped her foot against her metal chair. “About half an hour ago, you arrived at Yokamoto Hospital. Is that correct?”

Yuuri barely met Minato’s gaze. “That’s correct.”

“Furthermore, you asked to meet John-- _ ” _

_ “Viktor,”  _ Yuuri hissed between his teeth. “His name is Viktor.”

Minato turned her head slightly, meeting the gaze of her reflection. Yuuri knew that she was looking at the other investigators, making sure that they had this jotted down. Folding her fingers over each other, Minato leaned forward in her seat.

“You seem to be familiar with this man, Mr. Katsuki.” Her hand hovered over a folder in front of her. “Are you his friend? Acquaintance? Colleague? Lov--?”

“I’m not that familiar with him.” Yuuri never broke eye-contact when he answered. “However…” Yuuri shifted uneasily in his metal seat. “I wish to see him.”

“Viktor, was it?” Minato looked to Yuuri for confirmation, and he gave a small nod. “Mr. Katsuki, Viktor is not in the condition to be seeing anyone. He wasn’t just found unconscious, but with numerous injuries that require immediate care. Whether you’re familiar with this man or not, now is not the best time.”

“Can you please give him this?” Yuuri pushed a shoelace necklace across the table. Minato’s fingers approached it slowly. Her eyes stared at the silver ring attached to it and raised an eyebrow. “Please give it to him. He’ll know who it’s from.”

“In doing so, you know what you have to do.” Minato dropped the shoelace necklace into a plastic bag and zipped it shut. “Am I right, Mr. Katsuki?”

Minato didn’t elaborate, but Yuuri well-understood what she meant. As the only confirmed individual that knew of Viktor’s identity for now, Yuuri had to spill.


	38. Who I Need to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a week since Viktor was found on Hasetsu Beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not having an update yesterday. I just needed a day to myself so that I could catch up on my other projects.

Coming down the road at nearly four in the morning, Minato Looker drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. Her car, an old junker with an unsteady wheel at the axle, was the only vehicle out on the streets. Barely tinkering along when Minato moved onwards from a red light. Sitting beside her in the passenger seat were her notes. Files upon files of papers, photographs, and answers that she obtained during an interrogation earlier that week.

To say that the past week was anything but hectic was a lie. John Doe, or  _ Viktor,  _ opened a rusty can of worms for the Hasetsu Police Department. Living in a such a small, peaceful town, getting a case like this was a make-or-break situation for everyone. Just as the news broadcast went viral across the country after Viktor was found naked on the beach, some of the big names and tough guns of Japan swarmed to Hasetsu like they had nothing better to do. Like, drink coffee or actually spend time with their family members.

Speaking of family, Minato was on the phone with her sister. Now, Minato and her sister typically had good interactions. Sometimes, they talked about the weather or about their father. Today, it was about all  _ this. _

“Sis, look. If I find the culprit, do you know how proud Dad would be?” Minato’s phone fell onto the steering wheel, honking at the silence in front of her. A breakfast dish shattered on the other side of the line.

_ “Just come home.”  _ Her sister’s voice barely rose above a whisper. Clinks of broken glass filled the eerie silence afterwards.  _ “Just come home.” _

Home, the word had never tasted sweeter over Minato’s tongue when she mouthed the word. Home, it was a desire that Minato had thrown away years ago. Home, it was a distraction from what she needed to do. Home, every nerve in her body twitched because Minato was meant to behind a cubicle than in the confines of her personal jail. Home, her sister wouldn’t understand.

No one did, except her father. The man had been dead for fifteen years, and Minato and her family still didn’t have their answers. After fifteen years, a normal person would’ve found out the cause of death, but Minato and her family didn’t. There was nothing.

No bruises, no attacks, organs were fine, and there was no pain on his face. It was as if he laid down to sleep and never woke up again.

_ “Hana--” _

“Don’t call me by that name.” Minato picked up her phone. “It’s  _ Looker.”  _ Better to end the call now than listen through another lecture, in her opinion when Minato tossed her phone into the backseat of her car. She drove up to Yokamoto Hospital and found a parking spot under a tree. With her badge in her hands, Minato walked into the hospital as calmly as she could. Her knees shook, but that didn’t matter when she made it to the front desk.

Viktor was awake when Minato eventually found his room’s door. She peered through the little window on the side, and Viktor was sitting up in bed. Looking out the window, where he could see the ocean and Hasetsu Beach. Even though he was tucked under a snuggly blanket, there were restraints just beneath the sheets. For the past three days, Viktor had attempted one escape after enough until he racked up five. For everyone’s safety, Viktor had to be put down. However, he didn’t seem too upset about it.

_ You stopped your little game when they moved you here,  _ Minato thought. Viktor’s previous room didn’t have a view to the ocean, but simply to the parking lot. Hey, if Minato had a choice, she’d pick the room with the window too, but she wasn’t here to understand Viktor. Maybe, partially? No, the full mile when Minato slid the door open quietly.

“So, you’re the Mr. John Doe that everyone’s been talking about?” A casual joke, but Viktor showed no signs that he was listening to Minato. She walked up confidently towards his bed side and drew a chair. Viktor continued to stare out his window until Minato said, “You can’t see anything out there at this hour,  _ Viktor.” _

Viktor turned his head slowly. He didn’t meet Minato’s eyes, but he focused on her sleeve.

“The team and I are going to find out who did this to you.” Minato extended her hand, and Viktor scooted back. Fingers twitching, Minato rested her hand against her lap. “Assault is a hefty crime and an attempted murder is enough to lock this bastard behind bars. Mark my words, justice will be served and you’ll get your life back.”

In a flash, Minato saw her notes before her eyes. There was a folder labeled “Injuries” because Viktor had sustained so many. From a crushed throat, where he had to wear a neck brace and oxygen tube for the time-being. From the bruises and scratches along his forearm, cleansed and bandaged to prevent infection. From the operation on what was left of his left eye, so that the wound could finally heal properly after God knew when. Surgery in his chest to rebuild his broken ribs, severe sensitivity when someone touched his legs or feet, and the inability to form words or speak was about all Minato could remember from her notes at the moment. There was a Russian exchange-student doing residency at the hospital and when he spoke to Viktor, Viktor understood him. However, he couldn’t speak back.

“Viktor.” Minato didn’t say more than that until Viktor met her gaze. “I have something for you.” Minato pulled out a little parcel from her pocket and rested it next to Viktor. “Someone cares about you a lot, and they miss you.” She got up from her seat, and Viktor picked up his present. He tore the wrapper up carefully and found a zip-lock bag. Inside was his shoelace necklace and the silver ring at the end.

“Yuuri.” Viktor pressed the bag against his face and purred.

Minato made a mental note of that before leaving the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a few more chapters, usual fluff will begin. But for right now, people need to investigate on what happened to Viktor. Will they believe that several mers and a crazy siren tried to do all of this? Stay tuned to find out


	39. Surrender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor makes his 6th escape attempt from the hospital, and he doesn't look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By far, this is the longest snippet in the Mer!Ficlet so far. Probably because Arc 2 is more of a traditional story-format than just snippets.

There was a time where a man could stand before the sea, feel the sweat upon his brow, and know that his ship could do him no wrong. That man was Captain. He was not fancy nor furred like the navy and their red puppets with wigs. No, Captain was a man that ruled the ship with an iron fist. The tilt of his sword against the deck directed his ship to where he pleased, and his vulgarity was as well-known to his crew as it was to the world.

He only had one rule on his ship. ‘ _ Keep your rum.’ _ Rum was the only paycheck on the sea, and a man would rather bet his life than bet his ration when December flushed the Baltic Sea.

Viktor was a scrawny lad at the time, huddled under a torn potato sack. His hair jagged and uneven, having given himself a haircut with a mirror shard just hours before. The remains of his hair drifted somewhere in the water as he sat alone on the steps of deck. He kept to himself, ignoring the cacophony of music that riddled below the deck. The clinks of rum bottles sounded below like bells from a church.

Much like the church that was on the way to Viktor’s home if he was coming back from errands, just a year ago. But now, the errand and his walk was just a memory, and Viktor bundled himself tightly. His breath circled above like a ghost of a vulture. The warmth of the life he once had was gone. Replaced with this, replaced with a piracy that stained his hands red.

Viktor didn’t comment when Captain emerged from below the deck, two bottles of rum hanging by his fingers. His heavy steps pounded the wood beneath his foot, and he thrusted a bottle under Viktor’s chin. Viktor looked away.

“There are two people in this world.” Captain placed Viktor’s bottle at the foot of the stair steps. “One surrenders to fight. The other surrenders to die.” He snorted and spat over his shoulder. Viktor furrowed his brows and maintained his distance.

His chin was balanced over his arms. “I would rather surrender and just get it over with.”

_ “Heh,  _ you don’t know how cruel life can be,  _ boy.” _ Captain guzzled his bottle of rum in a span five seconds. Granted, the bottle didn’t have a chance to begin with before it was stuffed down his throat. The empty shell was thrown over the ship and disappeared into the waters below, and Captain wiped his chin with his sleeve.

He plopped himself down to Viktor and unsheathed his sword. When Viktor glanced at it, he saw Captain’s crooked smile reflected on the blade

“Magnificent, isn’t it?”

Viktor scooted away. “Better if it wasn’t used.”

“Only to prove a point.” Captain extended his sword, pointing it upwards. Tempting Heaven to strike the ship down, but nothing happened. It was a cloudless night without a hint of snow. “Say if I curse God, meself, and He smite this ship with fire, what good is it to surrender and meet my fate in Hell? I will surrender after I cut the trumpet’s head off and sound my own war!” Captain struck his sword down in the space between him and Viktor. “In this sea, I am God and God is me.”

Whatever argument that Viktor had died at his throat when Captain pulled his sword up again.

“People die without surrendering. People fight without the white flag behind them,” Viktor said, keeping an eye on Captain’s sword when it began to lower. “We’re human. Just human.” Viktor squeezed his wrist. “How can we choose one thing over another when we all meet the same fate in the end?”

“Drink your rum and be happy.” Captain tapped the bottle with the end of his sword. “What’s the point of asking when you haven’t lived it yet?”

Viktor reached for his bottle, hovering his lips over the mouth. “You haven’t died.”

“You don’t know that.” Captain bidded Viktor a goodnight and returned to his nest of thieves and liars down below the deck. Viktor watched Captain until the man disappeared, leaving him alone with a bottle.

Captain was right, in his own way. Viktor hadn’t died yet, so he wouldn’t know the true answer to his question. So when Viktor finally woke up after a hundred and twenty years, the memory of that night with Captain was fresh in his mind. Viktor was in a new world, bound to new rules, and he had a choice.

He could surrender and watch his soul and being shrivel into dust because he couldn’t keep up with the changes. Or, he could surrender and fight for what he wanted. After five attempted escapes and finally restrained against his bed, Viktor still had some fight in him.

He laid on his bed, still for the most part. He twisted a scalpel underneath his blanket and scrunched himself to the other end of his bed. Brown restraints wrapped securely over his legs, and Viktor went to work. Slowly cutting away at the fabric and dragging his life support to the other end of the bed so it wouldn’t tug tug him at places.

If anyone was about to walk into his room, Viktor would hurl himself back up his bed and drag his life support with him. If anyone asked why he was in pan, Viktor would motion that one of his tubes needed adjusting, and it was the truth because each, sharp movement dug the plastic to somewhere it didn’t need to be. This was what Viktor learned on his first escape attempt. No matter what, his life support had to follow him. Details of the incident were meant to be spared, but it involved gagging and unwanted blemishes when Viktor yanked out needles and tubes from his body.

Okay, as of now, Viktor had two more restraints left to cut. No one had come in to check on him yet. He was doing well. More than well, actually. Viktor sliced through his last restraints and slowly sat up. He rolled his legs off from the bed. His feet touched the cold floor. Viktor heard his heartbeats against his ear. Even though this wasn’t his first time walking, Viktor always felt a thrill up his chest and it warmed his throat. His toes wiggled across the floor, reminding Viktor of the local tide pools he used to soak in when he was mer. How the water cascaded down his tail and onto his upper body when he drenched himself on a hot day.

The water felt just like this floor. Cold, as if Viktor was the first person to feel it for what it was. The doctors and nurses wore shoes or slippers, unable to feel the coldness of the floor and how it stirred faint memories for Viktor. The world seemed to twist and turn when Viktor got up. Like he was on Captain’s ship and a storm was rocking the vessel down to Davy Jones' Locker. Viktor grabbed his IV stand, hobbled forward, and wrapped his other arm around his heart monitor and his ventilator. He dragged those with him too.

From Viktor’s second escape attempt, he learned that his body wasn’t always cooperative when the walking began. Three steps in, he fell because he didn’t have support. When his nurse came in, she found Viktor crumbled on the floor, gasping and trying to dig his fingernails into the floor.

That was in the past now because Viktor made it past his room’s door. He looked out. He looked left and right. No one was coming down the hallway.  _ Perfect.  _ Viktor shuffled slowly from the doorway, pretending that he was on a rocking ship. He swayed his body to and fro. Numb at some parts, ran into a wall a few times, but he kept quiet.

From Viktor’s third escape attempt, he barely made it down the hallway. Unable to see straight, Viktor clicked and squeaked so that he could tell how far he was from something. Unfortunately, all the noise drew attention from the floor’s Head Nurse. In the end, Viktor was escorted back into his room.

But this time around, Viktor was doing a bit better. Instead of squeaking if he had to, Viktor drummed his toes against the floor and used the vibrations to help him navigate and not bump into anything. When a nurse asked him if he should be wandering around, Viktor gave a sincere smile and motioned that he wanted something from the... _ vending machine. _ Yes, there was a vending machine nearby and Viktor pretended to push buttons in the air. He even had loose change on him because one of his previous nurses gave him some coins to play when she noticed that Viktor liked the sounds that they made.

Armed with some coins and with a sincere smile, Viktor shuffled over to the vending machine and fiddled around with the buttons. Eventually, the nurse behind him walked away, Viktor moved on. However, he did spend an extra minute just skimming through the contents inside the vending machine. There was a package of some sort with little fishes inside. Viktor wanted that, but he could always come back if this escape attempt didn’t work.

From Viktor’s fourth escape attempt, he learned that stairs were the enemy. At first, Viktor went down the stairs because he noticed that no one used them. Well, there was a reason why no one used them, and his fledgling feet were already confused as soon as he dropped from the first step. Viktor slipped and fell down. Bruises nicked every corner of his body. His heart monitor fell on top of him, crushing his repaired ribs. His ventilator did some horrible things to his insides, and it was better not to relive the memory.

So when Viktor passed by the same flight of stairs from his fourth escape attempt, he kept walking and never looked back.

From his fifth escape attempt, Viktor sabotaged himself because he didn’t have a scalpel. In the case where someone was threatening to take him back to his room, Viktor needed a weapon to defend himself. At the time, he had nothing. As of now, Viktor had a scalpel.

His fingers were wrapped around it. Concealed for the most part, but Viktor was ready to strike. But like Captain and his sword, Viktor would only use the scalpel to prove a point. That he needed to leave the hospital, that there were people and a puffer fish that he needed to see, and that Viktor missed the ocean.

No one could take that away from him.

After some time, Viktor found himself in an elevator. He had never gone this far before. Now what? The doors closed and the elevator moved up, almost knocking Viktor off his feet before he backed himself into a corner. What sorcery was this? Was this trap laid by Chihoko? Viktor hissed and slapped his hand over a multitude of floor buttons. The elevator went down, but then it went back up. It was a game of tug, going up and down, until the elevator went up to the floor that needed it and a med student was dragged in.

Viktor pressed his scalpel against their neck, growling softly in their air.

The med student, a scream somewhere at the back of their throat, pressed a button to the first floor. The ride down was as suspenseful as one would expect. The med student took out their phone and raised it up in a selfie-position, snapping a shot of Viktor behind them with a scalpel. Reminded of how Yuuri’s father, Toshiya, had done the same thing, Viktor smiled. Fangs exposed, he startled the med student more than he thought he did.

By the time they made it to the first floor, the elevator opened and a team of security guards were at the bottom. Expecting a madman with a hostage but instead, the med student shushed softly.

Viktor knew that moving around made him tired, but he didn’t expect this level of fatigue before he slipped and found a resting spot on the med student’s shoulder. His scalpel dropped onto the floor with a clank. Viktor yawned and nuzzled closer against the med student’s neck. This touch felt too familiar. It was as if Viktor was snuggling against Yuuri, but this person couldn’t be Yuuri. It was a stranger.

But Viktor recognized this scent, he recognized the fingers that reached up and patted his head. Viktor clung to Yuuri, refusing to let go when a nurse came onto the scene to escort Viktor back to his room. Viktor pulled Yuuri with him. He hadn’t seen Yuuri in days, and no one could take this moment away from him. He couldn’t let go. He couldn’t surrender now when he could still…

“Viktor, you don’t have to escape anymore.” Yuuri wiggled his fingers out from Viktor’s grasp. “It’s okay. I’m going to be here with you. Right now, you need to rest.”


	40. Right Time, Right Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's perspective of the elevator incident.

About ten minutes before Viktor attempted his sixth escape plan, Yuuri arrived at the hospital. He took the day off to come and visit Viktor. As he approached the front desk, he saw an elderly man with a thick accent. There was a manila folder in his arms, stuffed to the brim with papers. Upon closer inspection, all the papers were blank. Yuuri wondered if the elderly man was perhaps visiting his grandchild so that they had a surface to draw on. But as soon as Yuuri encountered him, the elderly man got up from his seat and followed a doctor that had approached him.

Yuuri came up to the front desk and asked for which floor new patients were being admitted to. He explained that a friend of his was admitted into the hospital earlier this week. The man at the front desk was kind and pulled up a pen. With his pen, he showed Yuuri where he needed to go and which half of the hospital that he should be in.

“If your friend is in recovery, they should be here.” A pen tapped to the upper-left portion of the hospital. “Now, if they have surgeries coming up or if they’re in an unstable condition, they’re going to be here.” The pen moved and tapped the upper-right portion of the hospital. “You’re not allowed there.”

“I think my friend is in recovery, but I’m not sure if he’s allowed to have visitors.”

“If your friend is in recovery, there’s a little window along the doors and you can take a look at him. If he’s awake, you two can wave at each other. You can check with the nurses in the recovery area to see if he’s allowed to have visitors.”

“Thank you.” Yuuri glanced at the map one more time before heading to an elevator. As he searched through the hallways in the recovery area, Yuuri would run into nurses and he asked them if an unidentified patient had was on the floor. Yuuri described Viktor’s general appearance, and the nurses replied that Viktor— _they called him “John Doe” or “the patient”--_ had been transformed to another part of the hospital. There was no elaboration on their part, and Yuuri didn’t press them for more.

“Are you planning on visiting him?” asked one of the nurses. She was perhaps the fourth one that Yuuri had spoken to all morning, and she was the first to ask him this. When Yuuri nodded, the nurse shifted through the papers on her clipboard. “It’s very kind of you to do this. Reporters come, but they’re not visitors.”

“I just want to let him know that he’s not alone, and that there are people that he can trust.” Yuuri thanked the nurse after she told him which floor Viktor was on. Viktor was on the right side of the hospital, and he was on a floor that Yuuri was allowed to walk through.  Yuuri walked towards the right before finding an elevator to go down. He watched as the number increased and suddenly, it went down. Yuuri clicked on the down button again, and the elevator came up. Immediately, the rising numbers went down again.

Yuuri thought about context. The hospital wasn’t very busy, this elevator he wanted to get on was in an obscure corner that barely anyone would use, and there was nothing important around Yuuri. Sure, there were a few vending machines, but the hallways around him were void with life.

Eventually, the elevator came up and opened its doors. Before Yuuri had time to acknowledge it, he was pulled inside and the pointed end of a scalpel was pressed against his neck. Heavy breathing fell upon his shoulder. Behind him was a madman. Someone who was trying to escape from the hospital, and all of their life support was dragged with them. As Yuuri pressed the button for the first floor, his fingers touched the emergency button on the elevator. He swallowed his saliva as soon as the doors closed and the elevator moved down.

A thought came to Yuuri. He had never been in a hostage situation before, so he pulled his phone out and placed it on front-view to get a selfie. When Yuuri saw the face, he nearly dropped his phone because Viktor smiled when he saw himself on the screen. What was Viktor doing here? Was he trying to escape? Well, Yuuri wasn’t sure if this was a lucky situation or if coincidence reunited him with Viktor in the most bizarre way. At some point, Viktor realized that Yuuri was his hostage when they made it to the front floor and a team of security guards were waiting for them when the elevator opened its doors.

Viktor refused to leave Yuuri’s side, but fatigue got the best of him. It was so easy for Yuuri to pull his fingers out from Viktor’s grasp, and Yuuri told Viktor that he didn’t need to escape anymore. A wheelchair was brought in so that Viktor could sit in while he slept, and Yuuri volunteered to push Viktor back to his room. A nurse came to help, making sure that Viktor’s life support was following along on the trip. Back up the elevator they went.

Yuuri ran his fingers through Viktor’s hair, slowly and softly. Like how his mother used to do when Yuuri was younger and when he rested his head on her lap. When the elevator opened its doors, Yuuri and the nurse took Viktor back to his room. The nurse picked up and Viktor and laid him on his bed while Yuuri pushed the wheelchair away to make room. When Viktor was safely tucked under his blanket and restrained, the nurse told Yuuri that he could stay with Viktor a little bit.

“You’re one of the few people here that can keep him calm.” Yuuri didn’t notice that the nurse winked at him and perhaps, it was for the better when Yuuri drew a chair for himself and sat by Viktor’s side.

“I miss you, too.” Yuuri held Viktor’s hand and kept it warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fluff is coming in sooner than i thought


	41. Don't Push Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile in another part of the hospital, the elderly man with the folder of blank sheets makes his presence known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this [oneshot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13271211) two days ago for the mer!series so y'all can read it if you want. It's kind of a spoiler for later in the arc, but it's just a cute little blurb I wanted to write.

With only English as his shield and knife, Yakov Feltsman followed one of the doctors out from the hospital’s lobby and into a private room. Tucked underneath his arm was a folder, filled to the brim with blank sheets. Yakov gave the folder to no one, and he politely declined when someone asked to hold it. He gave a peaceful smile, the kind of look a stranger would expect on an elderly face. But when no one was looking, Yakov’s smile slipped back into a usual frown.

When he and the doctor entered one of the offices on the first floor, a standoffish woman in a trench coat spun around in her seat. Nearly tipping it over because the seat wasn’t meant to turn, but Minato caught herself. She narrowed her eyes at Yakov, pausing for a moment to figure out why he had an obscenely large folder under his arm.

“There must be a mistake,” Minato mumbled under her breath. She curled her finger and gestured for Yakov’s escort to come to her.  _ “I don’t care if he’s transferring his medical history to this hospital, you’re not supposed to bring civilians into this off--” _

“John Doe?” Yakov asked, in English.

Minato glanced at Yakov. He had his phone out, and there was a picture of Viktor across the screen. It was the very same picture that went viral during the past few days because no one knew who he was or how he got to Hasetsu, unconscious and harmed.

Minato’s fingers twitched. She hadn’t spoken in English for years. The last time was when she was trying to pass for her foreign language credit, and here Minato was. Trying to unearth the memories and lessons that got her a few points above the passing line. She was a detective, an investigator, and the leader for the John Doe case. She couldn’t let her team down.

“Oh, John Doe.” Minato awkwardly pointed at Viktor’s picture as if this was a game of ‘I Spy’. “You know him?”

_ Of course he knows Viktor!  _ Minato dug her nails into her palm.  _ He could be Viktor’s grandfather for all I know. _

If that was true and if Yakov was here for VIktor...Minato couldn’t let this opportunity pass. This was her chance. To not only know more of why Viktor was here, but learn about the mistakes that led to this moment. Immediately, Minato requested to have a private talk with Yakov. Yakov raised his hand and said that he had medical records to deliver to the hospital. Not his, but Viktor’s.

“Sir--”

_ “Mr. Feltsman,” _ Yakov said.

“Mr. Feltsman.” The doctor that escorted him said the name a few times under his breath before continuing. Minato couldn’t catch the rest of the conversation. No matter how hard she squinted, her eyes flickering back and forth between the doctor and Yakov, all the English words flew over her head. Okay, Minato was a detective. She could figure this out.

Yakov wanted to deliver something, more specifically it was the folder he had. The doctor mentioned something about guidelines or no, it wasn’t guidelines. It was something else. But by the time Minato sorted that out, the conversation was done. Yakov passed his folder to the doctor, and the doctor flipped through the papers.

He saw Viktor’s picture, a brief summary of his medical history, and some other... _ information  _ that Minato could only guess at.

“I took the liberties of translating the records for easier reading,” Yakov said and the doctor thanked him graciously.

_ It’s still in English,  _ Minato wanted to hiss. It appeared that Yakov didn’t know who he was dealing with. The doctor was important and all, but there were dozens of other doctors roaming around in the hospital. Minato had so many things to ask. What was Yakov’s connection to Viktor, what happened to Viktor, and why was he here? Was he connected to Katsuki Yuuri in any way, or was that a merely a coincidence? If Yakov knew Japanese, Minato would’ve turned the office into a room of interrogation.

But here she was, scrambling. No, she was better than this. If her father was in this situation, even if his English was incomprehensible, he would’ve done the best with what he could do to speak his mind. Minato was no different when she approached Yakov, arms crossed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like the women in the Katsuki family and how they have powers, Yakov has his own powers too. He create things. However, he needs to have the materials in order to make what he wants. In order to make medical records for Viktor, Yakov needs paper.


	42. I’m here, waiting for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “One person is enough. Just one person is enough to keep a person going. We are searching for that one person and hope to be that one person for someone else. That person can be the one and only meaning in our lives and child, you may already be someone’s only one."

During moments like this, Yuuri rested his hand over Viktor’s chest. He felt Viktor’s heartbeats. The steady thump-thump reminded Yuuri that he wasn’t dreaming. Viktor was right in front of him, and he was human.  _ Human.  _ The word bounced around in Yuuri’s mind when he rested his other hand against his heart. Yuuri felt Viktor’s heartbeat, and then he felt his. Though both hearts thumped to different rhythms-- _ with Viktor’s being slower than Yuuri’s-- _ they eventually caught to each other’s pace and thumped at the same time.

Yuuri wondered if it was appropriate to cry. He cried at on a pier when he realized what happened to Viktor, but that was mere speculation on his part. But now, with Viktor right in front of him, all the sleepless nights spent turning and thinking had finally found their rest. It was like a fantasy, how someone’s wish came true if they believed hard enough. So in the calm of the hospital room, Yuuri cried. He cried now so that when Viktor woke up, he would see Yuuri’s smile.

The tears dripped and splashed onto Viktor’s bedside like silent rain. Sometimes, the tears slashed on top of his hand. Sometimes, the tears rolled off of Viktor’s face when Yuuri leaned forward and fluffed Viktor’s pillow so that he would be comfortable. Just being able to hold Viktor like this, to see Viktor like this, to be this close, and to know that Viktor wasn’t alone anymore and...Yuuri lost his train of thought.

Viktor turned over in his sleep. He scooted to the edge of his bedside, and his forehead touched Yuuri’s sleeve. The heart monitor behind Yuuri signaled a change within Viktor. His heart rate increased, and Viktor squeaked in his sleep.

“I’m here.” Yuuri tucked Viktor in. He didn’t mind that Viktor was touching his arm, but Yuuri had to go somewhere. As gently as he could, Yuuri shifted Viktor’s head and rested it on the hospital pillow. Yuuri peeled off his jacket and bundled it against Viktor’s cheek so that he could nuzzle against it in his sleep.

About ten minutes ago, while a nurse was checking up on Viktor’s life support, she emptied Viktor’s pockets as well. There was some spare change, a bouncy ball, a yo-yo to pique Viktor’s interest, and a peculiar plastic bag. Inside was a familiar shoelace necklace with a silver ring attached to the loop. The ring was still beautiful, but the shoelace was falling apart and melting into goop.

Like the loneliness in Viktor’s heart.

  
  


For in dreams, Viktor reunited with his fondest memories.

When he was a little boy, perhaps eight or nine, his mother took him to her room. There, Viktor saw an enormous treasure chest. His mother had the key around her neck, and she asked Viktor if he wanted to open the chest. Little Viktor nodded, hopping around with the key in his hand before inserting it into the chest. He and his mother opened the lid together. Instead of coins or bounty for a pirate, Viktor saw a myriad of knick knacks that his mother had collected over the years.

At the very top of the pile was a music box. Mrs. Nikiforov twisted the little knob in the back, and the music box opened. Inside was a tiny ballerina and her prince, forever spinning in their dance as fluttering notes played their love.

“Mama, who gave you that?” Viktor looked up to his mother. He blinked softly when his mother kissed the music box and closed the lid quietly with her thumb.

“Papa did.” Mrs. Nikiforov ruffled Viktor’s hair. “When he asked for my hand.”

“Papa likes Mama and music,” Viktor said. “Papa likes me too.”

“No, Papa  _ loves  _ you too,” Mrs. Nikiforov corrected her son. When she placed her music box back into the treasure chest, she scooped Viktor into her arms. Viktor rested his chin on his mother’s shoulder. “Can you listen to Mama carefully?”

“Hmm.”

“One person is enough,”Mrs. Nikiforov said. “Just one person is enough to keep a person going.” She rested her head against Viktor’s, holding her son close when they left the bedroom. “We are searching for that one person and hope to be that one person for someone else. That person can be the one and only meaning in our lives and child, you may already be someone’s only one.”

“What if I can’t find them?” Viktor chirped. “They might be across the ocean.”

“You’ll find them, Viktor. You will find them.”

  
  


When Viktor opened his eyes, he saw a silver ring dangling in front of his face. It was looped in a golden chain, suspended by familiar hands. Viktor blinked a few times before he found the outline of Yuuri’s face, the outline of his glasses, and the outline of his eyes. Viktor found his reflection in Yuuri’s eyes. If love was a color, Viktor found it.

“I wanted to replace the shoelace…” Viktor didn’t catch the rest of what Yuuri said. Viktor heard the words, but they came out as jumbled blurs. Or, Viktor heard them as jumbled blurs because he focused on Yuuri’s eyes. Yuuri never looked away when he spoke to Viktor, a sign that he wanted to be at the center of Viktor’s attention. Maybe not intentionally, because Yuuri was looking more at the necklace and the ring, but Viktor saw himself in those eyes as well.

He sat up and combed his hair to the side, exposing his nape. Viktor shifted himself so that he was facing Yuuri, and he motioned what he wanted Yuuri to do. Too pink to really say anything back, Yuuri leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Viktor. Not for an embrace, but to put the necklace on him. Viktor rested his chin on Yuuri’s shoulder while the latter worked. The necklace was on and now, Yuuri wasn’t sure if he could pull away from this pseudo-embrace.

Feeling Viktor’s hugs weren’t foreign to Yuuri, but this embrace felt different. Yuuri didn’t want to leave, and his arms and hands held Viktor tenderly. This closeness wasn’t foreign, but the emotions behind it caught Yuuri by surprise. He breathed, he noticed the faintness of Viktor’s scent, and he drew circles along Viktor’s shoulder blade.

Viktor pulled away slightly to hold his silver ring. He pressed it against his lips, remembering the words that his mother had told him.

  
  


Viktor could search across the ocean for love, and he found it.

In Yuuri.


	43. Splinter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say that family is the strongest force in life, but Minato disagrees. After being gone for quite some time, Minato shows up at her sister's home one evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is starting again for me tomorrow, so I wanted to get another snippet done in case I don't get one out for tomorrow

For the first time in weeks, Minato came home. It was late one evening, a styrofoam cup of coffee at her lips when she rang the doorbell. Her sister’s husband was the one that answered, and he almost didn’t recognize Minato. She had grown out her hair again, fastened it behind her in a pitiful ponytail, but at least she was alive when she gave a monotone greeting. Obvious bangs underneath her eyes when she passed the threshold and deposited her coffee cup in a trashcan.

“Chiho is going to be…” The husband’s voice trailed off when Minato pressed a finger against her lips.  _ The work of a detective is never over,  _ he thought. He watched as Minato crept down the hall, sneaking her way past the kitchen where her sister was cutting vegetables for tonight’s hotpot. It took a creaky tile on the floor to give Minato away, and her sister turned her head. A gleaming knife, freshly sharpened, in her hands.

Minato bit her bottom lip. “Hi, Sis.”

“Wash up and get ready for dinner,” Chiho sighed before skinning a root.

“You must be mistaken.” Minato dug through her trench coat for her notepad. “I’m just here to get the rest of my stuff.” A bag of saliva slid down her throat when Chiho laid her knife to rest on the cutting board. “I’m moving out.”

No one knew if another argument was about to spill. Chiho’s husband retreated upstairs to where the bedrooms were. His footsteps echoed for an eternity next to Minato’s ears when she rolled back her sleeves. She cleared her throat and held her stance.

What was going to happen this time? Would Chiho quietly comply? Would she brandish her knife and chase Minato around the kitchen? Were they going to scream until someone cried? Like last time, Chiho broke down at the front of the house when Minato walked out and spent the weekend at the Hasetsu Police Department. Guzzling down cup noodles in her tiny cubicle space, back hunched over as she reviewed over past cases to find a shred of a hint of what had killed their father fifteen years ago.

_ “I used to tell Mom that you were a successful person until she called me out on the bullshit.”  _ Chiho whispered that in the rain when Minato left after that argument, and the words still haunted Minato to this day.  _ What are you going to do, Sis?  _ Minato balled her hands into fists.  _ Do you want to fight? _

Chiho was a doctor, her husband was a doctor. Hell, her eldest son was a med-student somewhere in America. If there was a knife sticking out of Minato’s chest at the end of this argument, she knew she’d be at a hospital quicker than falling asleep.

“Hanako--”

_ “It’s Looker,”  _ Minato hissed between her teeth. She switched out her given name for the nickname her father used to call her when she was younger. It was all Minato had left of him, besides his gun and the trench coat over her shoulders.

“You’re being a bit childish, don’t you think?” Chiho scraped her vegetables into the hotpot and stirred the contents around.

This argument again. At least Chiho wasn’t fighting with Minato about the living arrangements. Wanting to keep her appetite, Minato went up the stairs and up to the second story to where the bedrooms were. Chiho didn’t protest. There was no point in arguing with Minato when she made her mind up about something.

Crossing down the hall, Minato entered the guest room, where the rest of her belongings were. There was a small suitcase with some clothes, some notes that she had dumped into Mr. Minami’s arms when she ran into the doctor a few days ago, and all of crumbled sheets that Minato had torn out a few months ago were still in the room. Other than some cleaning that had happened over the past few weeks, MInato’s things remained untouched, unmoved, and they were waiting for when the guest door opened.

A hint of a smile ghosted over her lips. Minato half-expected that her belongings had been thrown out, but Chiho had a good heart. It was something that she inherited from the late Minato Sr. before his untimely death. Minato gathered her things and left the guest room about ten minutes later. Chiho’s husband retreated down to the kitchen to help his wife, and their son was up in his room. Minato knocked on the door, and Kenjirou invited Minato in.

Sprawled on the floor with homework, Kenjirou waved. Minato waved back, leaving her things by the door when she sat on Kenjirou’s bed. Kenjirou was a lot like her. Everything, from the study desk to the closet, was messy. However, there was a pattern in the madness and MInato gave Kenjirou a fist bump.

“Are you still busy with work?” Kenjirou asked.

“You know how it is. Cases won’t solve themselves unless someone steps up for it.” Minato scratched her teeth with her nail. “Auntie won’t be coming back for a while.”

“And then, you’ll come back. Right?” Kenjirou turned his head.

Minato shrugged. “If your Mom let’s me.”

“She’ll agree to it if you work less hours.” Kenjirou wasn’t sure how to respond when Minato started laughing. Minato rarely came home these days and if she did, she insisted on staying in her car because “her father” used to do the same before preparing for a stakeout. But in the fifteen years since her father’s time, Hasetsu was safer than it used to be and stakeouts weren’t needed anymore.

“Works is needed to stay alive. Don’t forget that, Kenjirou.”

“Family is just as important,” Kenjirou shot back. He apologized for his tone before returning to his homework. Minato wasn’t sure how to counter that. Not wanting another argument to grow, Minato noticed a bag of marbles in Kenjirou’s backpack and asked him about it. “I’m holding them for a friend.”

“What kind of friend?”

“A good friend,” Kenjirou said between his teeth when he erased his mistake on a math problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Minato Looker" is probably one of the most /unique/ characters I've written, personally. She gets herself into trouble and is willing to stir up trouble to get a job done. Her default is to be as stubborn as possible, and she's borderline obsessed about what happened 15 years ago with her dad's death.
> 
> In a lot of ways, Minato is held back by her inability to move forward while everyone else did so just fine. Minato needs a friend, a good friend at that.


	44. The reason I close my eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri comes home for the weekend, and Viktor misses his visitor.

One of the hardest moments that Hiroko woke up to was knowing that her son, her Yuuri, wasn’t home. Laying in her futon, watching the ceiling spin above her head, Hiroko wondered how Yuuri was doing. Was he healthy? Was he eating alright? Was he happy? These were the usual thoughts that occupied Hiroko’s mind before she rose for the morning. Toshiya was still asleep, snuggling a pillow against his chest and whispering something that Hiroko couldn’t quite catch. She pulled the blanket up to keep Toshiya warm and out of reflex, his fingers wiggled around until they found her hand.

Eyes still closed, Toshiya mumbled if he was dreaming.

“Are you dreaming?” Hiroko asked. Toshiya didn’t respond for a moment, noticing how his mouth and tongue refused to move when he thought of his initial response.

“No, I’m not dreaming.” A childish smile curved over his lips when Toshiya rolled over in his sleep. Hiroko nudged Toshiya a little bit, but Toshiya snuggled deeper under his blanket and eventually disappeared under it before Hiroko pulled back the window curtains. Sunlight bathed the bedroom when Hiroko left to open Yutopia Springs. Just as she slipped into her slippers and combed her hair with her fingers, she noticed a silhouette by the front door.

It was an outline of a male, about a head or two taller than Hiroko, and there was a squirming poodle in his arms. Hiroko knew it was a poodle when she heard Yuuri’s voice on the other side of the door. He was talking to someone on the phone. But when he saw Hiroko’s outline from where he stood, he ended the call promptly and rubbed his sneakers together before his mother flung the door open with the brightest smile in the world.

“Mom, I--!”

Vicchan wiggled out from Yuuri’s arms and leapt into Hiroko’s instead. Hiroko caught the poodle, and VIcchan gave her so many kisses that it attracted the attention of Mari, who was shuffling down the hall for breakfast. She caught Yuuri’s eyes, and Yuuri gave her a polite nod and wave. Behind Yuuri was his suitcase. He was staying for the weekend.

  
  


“How’s life?” A toothpick between her teeth when Mari scrubbed a frying pan out in the backyard. Yuuri was putting up clothes to dry, a few clothes-pins clung to his hair to keep this close by. Yuuri talked about work, some funny stories about the seals that he tended to, and he mostly talked about Vicchan.

“Sometimes I wonder if the Vicchan you’re talking about is the same one I’m thinking of,” Mari teased, earning herself a playful nudge when Yuuri was nearby. Draped over his shoulders were some personal towels, and Yuuri swayed back and forth as he whistled a little under his breath. Mari threw her metal sponge into a bucket of soapy water and rested the clean frying pan over on the grass beside her feet. “Have things been okay?”

“Rent’s been great and--”

“No, have  _ you  _ been okay?” Mari narrowed her eyes at the sudden silence between her and Yuuri. Whenever Yuuri was quiet, he was hiding something. Mari could tell. Yuuri refused to look at her, even when he had to turn around to grab a few sheets to hang.

“Viktor’s in the hospital,” Yuuri finally said, speaking softly at first. “It’s been difficult for him.”

“That must be rough, so how about you?” Mari’s persistence finally wore Yuuri out. Yuuri mumbled that he needed a break from everything. From worrying about Viktor’s well-being, from the news that had been circulating about Viktor’s condition, and from his neighbors. Somehow and some way, they found out that Yuuri was at the Hasetsu Police Department a few hours after Viktor was found on the beach, and their stares got to Yuuri. It was hard walking Vicchan in the morning when a few window curtains were pulled back, beady eyes watching him move before sunrise.

Being back at home, Yuuri hoped to find some rest. But being back home at a time like this, he should’ve anticipated Mari’s questions. Especially since Chihoko was still a threat in the area, evident by all the ornaments strung around Yutopia Springs. From little spoons to forks because Mari was gathering as many little trinkets as she could to find one weakness, one weakness that would spell the siren’s end. The siren hadn’t been around in a while, but Mari wasn’t going to rest until Chihoko was dead. Simple as that.

She didn’t say it out loud, but Yuuri felt it when Mari picked up a dirty pan from a pile behind her. The way she held the pan as if she wielded a sword. When Mari spoke, Yuuri listened.

“Sirens are more likely to strike when someone’s hurt. They’re pretty much birds. Once blood breaks the surface, they keep picking at it until there’s only bone.” Mari looked at her brother with a heavy sigh. Did she mean to scare him? No, but Yuuri was old enough to handle the truth.

 

_ “Keep Viktor close.” _

 

Viktor opened his eyes.

A few leaves from a nearby tree came into his room, and the white curtains swayed with the breeze. Before he napped, he swore that the window was closed. Darting his eyes right and left, Viktor pressed a special green button by his hospital bed. One of his nurse will be coming soon, and they’ll see the open window and close it shut. Viktor lounged back and waited, wondering what or  _ who  _ would have opened his window.

It was as if a spectre came in, dragging a red cloak behind them. And like that, they disappeared when Viktor opened his eyes. There was a red leaf near his hand, and Viktor touched it. Despite how cold it was, the leaf felt warm.


	45. Journey to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakov and Vikor meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instead of updating this fic every day, I'm going to only update this fic on week days. With school being my priority now, I need the weekends to catch up on school work, sleep, and to just rest. I hope y'all don't mind the change.

Viktor’s breath slipped from his mouth with unsettling ease. Having stayed at Yokamoto Hospital for a little over two weeks, Viktor thought he was prepared for anything. For a random checkup after his vital signs dropped or peaked, for a doctor that would speak to him quietly, for the Russian med-student that conversed with Viktor sometimes in the evening, or for a meal tray that reminded Viktor of the sea. Of how there was a bowl of rice on the side, a spoon for him to use, a bottle of water, some vegetables, and the meat of the day.

It was around close to seven at night when the door to his room slid opened. Viktor wondered what he was going to eat but instead of a friendly nurse, he saw Yakov. Or rather, Viktor saw Yakov and the heavy frown across his lips. He watched Viktor carefully, keeping his distance away from the man. Viktor was still restrained to his bed, so there was no harm. But when Viktor smiled and Yakov saw the rows of pointed teeth, Yakov rooted himself close to the door for a quick escape if needed.

What should he say? Yakov had planned this meeting for weeks in advance. Now that he was here, all the words he meant to say were lost. They were lost as soon as Viktor tilted his head, narrowing his eye into that of a predator’s. Not because he viewed Yakov as his prey, but Viktor didn’t want Yakov to slip from his gaze. The hair on the back of Viktor’s neck stood.

Yakov pulled out his phone. There was a picture across the screen, a picture of a bright man with sharp, blue eyes. A point to the front of his hair, and the man was bundled under a blanket while a siren kept him warm with her wings. Viktor could hear the siren’s laughter, a sweet whistle like that of a song bird’s. Viktor was mesmerized.

“They remember you,” Yakov said. His thick accent unfurled a memory in Viktor’s mind. “Do you remember them?”

Viktor’s heart monitor beeped a little faster.  _ “Georgi…”  _ Viktor was only nineteen when he said the name for the first time in his past.  _ “Mila…”  _ He remembered seeing a little girl running along the ports with a kite chasing behind her. Viktor and Georgi used to chuckle at the sight before their ship sailed off to replenish supplies at a Navy base.

In the picture on Yakov’s phone, Georgi looked to be twenty-eight and Mila was approaching twenty. To see such familiar faces again, Viktor whispered  _ “No”  _ when Yakov took the picture away from him. Yakov hid his phone into his pocket and gave Viktor a stern look, but it was lighter than his frown.

“Viktor, can we talk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for over 2,000 hits. That's awesome. I kind of want to celebrate with me recording a chapter or two from this ficlet. Just me reading the story in an audio format as a way to say, "thank you"


	46. Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every moment in Yakov's life led him to this moment, until it didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Typically, G-rated stories are uber fluffy and no wrong can be done in the story. I have to stay, this ficlet is intense and especially this chapter. I feel that even G-rated stories can be intense, but in a more implied way where the reader is allowed to imagine the explicits of a situation without the writer having to describe it.
> 
> A fair warning, tension escalates very quickly towards the end of the chapter. The only thing damaged is a first impression.

When Yakov was a boy, he heard a few stories from the local sailors. They were usually intoxicated by their own concoctions, but the sailors spoke of legends that faded upon their lips after a quick glance and whisper. Yakov couldn't comprehend the tales. They couldn't be true. Not the monsters, not the promises of gold and silver, and definitely not the idea that life had a second chance.

When the cup of water in Yakov’s hand turned to wine at a single command, he couldn't ignore the myths and stories anymore. Yakov, himself, was a legend walking on the edge of reality because of his ability. His ability to change and create things at a single command garnered the interest of those outside his immediate family, but Yakov did his best to smudge the fame that strangers recognized him for. To be different, to feel the need to hide to avoid social abuses, was what hardened Yakov’s heart against the myths that proved themselves to be true.

In his late age when retirement was upon his shoulders, Yakov housed two legends underneath his roof. The first was a quirky siren with a soul pouch against her chest. The second was a wayward mer with a heart as precious as gold.

  
  


_ [Life began in the sea, but it was worth living when Man emerged from the Pool of Beginning. The first were the mers, and their fins turned to legs when God adopted them as His children. An eternal flame lit their hearts and became their souls.] _

Georgi was twenty years old, by appearance alone, when he became human again. His webbed fingers curled around his marble, his soul. Yakov and Mila watched from behind the bathroom door when Georgi raised his marble up and admired it under the moonlight. It was his soul. Mila made sure of that when she bargained another siren for it.

Georgi was twenty years old, by appearance, when he tasted his marble. The past a hundred and twelve years skidded to a halt just so that Georgi could relive his moments from twenty again.

 

_ [When Man committed his sins, he was consumed by the sea and made new again. His body endured the flames and licks of revival while his soul was weighed before the Lord. The Father cradled His children and breathed within them a second chance to reconcile.] _

Sirens were tied to the elements. Some would kiss a breath of life, some would dance in the changing tides, some were bathed in fire from head to toe, and some preferred the weight of rocks in their garment. Just as elements tie sirens back to earth, so did their fear. Afraid of what had killed them at the end of their first life, only a fool would admit what the cause was.

Mila was that fool. She was the fool that befriended humans during her afterlife, promising them service in exchange for something sweet. Yakov met Mila that way, on the way home from the grocery store before his back gave out. Mila didn’t bother to disguise herself when she approached Yakov, and her wings gave her identity away. Yakov insisted that he was fine, because to be in a siren’s debt was about the stupidest thing he could at his age. But Mila was persistent, and she snagged a popsicle as a reward for healing Yakov’s back. Her feathers cascaded off from her wings and curled up her arms as water.

Mila rested her hands over Yakov’s back, and Yakov began to heal. Ever since that incident, Mila never left Yakov’s side. She commented that she couldn’t leave an elderly man on his own, but Yakov saw it as an excuse to get more popsicles when his back was turned. Nonetheless, Yakov allowed Mila to roost in his home, and he didn’t feel lonely anymore. It was like having a friend, despite him knowing that MIla would live long after he was dead.

 

_ [God transformed the souls into sirens, into individuals that will save other souls from the depths of Hell so that they may find rest in the Father's hands. After works of charity and reconcile, a siren may roost in Heaven on God’s shoulders. Or, the siren may be lost behind the fortress of their sins.] _

Mila and Georgi had known each other far longer than Yakov expected. He assumed that they may’ve met in passing, while Georgi was swimming and while Mila was flying around for sweets. But when Georgi recovered his human memories and was able to speak again about three weeks after, he told Yakov that he had known Mila since she was a little girl. Mila gave her side of the story and mentioned that she had seen Georgi sweeping a pier once, even though he wore a Navy uniform.

As the two chatted about the past and caught up with what happened in each other’s lives, Yakov slouched in his seat. He wondered if he should go out and buy a lottery ticket, but the weather was cold. Georgi and Mila begged him to stay so that he could hear their stories. Georgi wobbled into the living room and grabbed Yakov’s favorite blanket so that he could be comfortable. With that much effort, Yakov had to stay. He listened and the chatter reminded him of the stories that the sailors used to tell when he was a boy.

“Viktor.” The name was hushed when Georgi said it. His eyes seemed to glow at the dining table. He chanted under his breath. Mila raised an eyebrow before she, too, caught on to what he meant. Yakov darted his eyes, back and forth between Mila and Georgi, wondering what they were chanting about. He was almost too afraid to ask, but Mila did the asking for him.

Did Yakov see another mer when he found Georgi?

_ “If he had a friend, I didn’t see them.” _

  
  


_ Now I do. _

Viktor looked at Yakov curiously when the man sat by his bedside and rested his hands near Viktor’s lap. Viktor pulled himself away, but not much because of the restraints hidden under his blanket. He perked up when Yakov spoke. The beeps behind Yakov grew a bit faster still.

“When you’re recovered and are doing well, you should come back to Russia with me.” It wasn’t a command, an offer, nor a general statement. The weight behind Yakov’s words surprised Viktor. It was as if he didn’t have a choice in the manner, but Viktor did. He tried to speak, but Yakov showed him the picture of Mila and Georgi again. They were familiar faces, and a few memories were surfacing for Viktor. He had spoken, laughed, and ate with them before. Separately but sometimes, they did it together if the opportunity was right.

Right now, the opportunity presented itself. Yakov didn’t have to be here, but he came because Viktor meant a lot to Mila and Georgi. The two were thrilled with the possibility that Viktor may be alive somewhere, and the commotion around the house escalated when they saw him on the news. Unconscious, lying naked on a beach, but still alive. They knew his memories would come back, and they wanted to make more memories with him. With everyone from their world dead, it was beautiful to see a familiar face again.

Viktor understood the feeling. His heart spilled over when he saw Mila and Georgi’s picture on Yakov’s phone. Viktor’s’ breath was hitched at the back of his throat, and he wondered if he was dreaming or not. But this was real, and Yakov wanted Viktor to follow him back to Russia.

Viktor shook his head. Memories of Georgi swirled around in his mind. Mila’s childhood laughter rang behind his ear.

“Viktor, you don’t belong here.”

Viktor’s heart ached at those words. He did belong. He belonged in Hasetsu because the Katsuki family welcomed him with open arms. Viktor belonged in Hasetsu because he found people to trust. He belonged in Hasetsu because he found happiness and his best memories were here.

_ “I…” _

“You don’t speak the language.”

_ You’re wrong. _

“You don’t know anyone here.”

_ You’re wrong.  _ Viktor’s hands squeezed the life out of his blanket.

“Once you leave, no one will know that you’re gone.” When he heard a growl, Yakov realized how close Viktor was to him.

Viktor had been inching forward the whole time, barely a breath away from ripping every inch of Yakov. His fingers twitched like eels about to strike, and Viktor only held himself back because he knew that Yakov was ignorant behind the statements he had just said.

“You’re being irrational.” Yakov said it. The usual frown slipped over his lips when he stood up. “No one here knows how to take care of you.”

Viktor gritted his teeth when he brought Yakov down to his level.  _ “He promised me.” _

Yakov tried to loosen Viktor’s fingers. “Who are you talking about?”

When Viktor’s heart rate passed the safety threshold, three nurses rushed into his room. They told Yakov that he needed to leave, and Yakov didn’t argue with that.

  
  


From what he had heard about Viktor, Yakov assumed that he was a respectable, kind-hearted man. If that was true, then Yakov had meant an imposter instead. The being that had grabbed his collar was neither human nor sane, but a monster cloaked in human skin.

_ “Viktor can kill,”  _ Georgi had warned Yakov before his trip to Hasetsu.  _ “But, he chooses not to.” _

No truer words had ever been spoken when Yakov touched his jacket’s collar. If this was how Viktor reacted when he felt threatened, Yakov could hardly imagine what Viktor would do if he meant it, if he meant to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter is sort of my address to some people who think that Viktor made a mistake when he didn't kill Chihoko in the oneshot "East of Eden".
> 
> A really good friend of mine told me last night that they're surprised at Viktor's character development. Even though horrible things had happened in Viktor's past, he's not as angsty as his backstory would suggest. My friend was really interested in how I developed Viktor's character in that regard, and they were also curious as to why Viktor didn't /harm/ Chihoko when he had the opportunity to do so.
> 
> I would say that Viktor holds himself back a lot because he doesn't want to be the monster that people make him out to be.


	47. She's Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakov encounters an odd individual on the nightly train.

_ “What would I do to forget?” _

Yakov lifted his head when a woman boarded the evening train. She was young, hair curled and draped over her shoulder. The hem of her red dress swished when she took her seat, just three spots away from Yakov sat. Yakov fidgeted in his seat, catching another glimpse of the woman before sliding over. Another empty seat separated him from her. The woman didn’t seem to notice. Her fingers absently twirled through her hair, and she mumbled more questions underneath her breath. Yakov told himself that once the train stopped at another station, he would leave and board another train.

Partially, because the woman made him uncomfortable. Partially, because the woman turned to look at Yakov. Yakov continued to stare straight. He was used to the stares from the Hasetsu citizens, but the woman’s stare unnerved him somehow. It was as if she was dissecting Yakov with her eyes.

“You’re Yakov Feltsman.”

When Yakov held his breath, time stood still. The woman was still staring at him, but with a toothy grin on her face.

“Do you understand me?”

Even though the woman was clearly  _ not  _ Russian, she commanded the language with startling ease. Yakov wasn’t sure how to respond, or if he should acknowledge the woman in any way. Perhaps, this was a dream. But when Yakov breathed again, he realized that time really did stop. The train wasn’t moving, and Yakov could barely move.

The woman scooted closer so that she could observe every twitch along Yakov’s body. Her hair touched Yakov’s shoulder, and an intense heat bled to the rest of his body. Yakov managed to move his head, but the muscles along his neck tightened when the woman commanded him to stay still.

“Just a bit longer,” she whispered. “Do you know a little someone named Viktor?”

Yakov nodded. He wasn’t sure if he did it on his own, or if the woman’s voice compelled him to do so. Either way, the woman got the response that she wanted, and her chunkle pinned Yakov’s chest with its knife.

“He has a score to settle with me. Don’t make this easy.”

_ I need context!  _ Yakov wanted to shout.

This was a running trend in Hasetsu. Everyone assumed that everyone knew about everyone, and Yakov had no leads because he was a visitor. Yakov assumed that the woman didn’t want Viktor to leave, but she could’ve spent an extra fifteen seconds so that Yakov knew what she was talking about.

When the train moved again, Yakov regained control of his body and the woman beside him vanished. He still felt her heat on his shoulder, but the pain began to die when Yakov breathed deeply. Hasetsu was a strange town. Strange detectives, strange patients, and strange people on the trains. If this was God’s way of telling Yakov that he should return home, Yakov followed the order accordingly when he checked the date for when he was supposed to return to Russia.

“There’s no place like home,” Yakov muttered under his breath when he got off at the next station.


	48. I'm Still Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sound mind resonates with a sound heart, a sound body, and a sound soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter begins with a descriptive scene of a decaying body of a mer. If that makes you squeamish, skip the portion right under "a sound mind resonates with a..." and start reading from the line titled "a sound heart..."

_ A sound mind resonates with… _

 

On the edge of the shore was a body. From the distance, Minato couldn’t tell who it was when she did her morning run. She slid down Hasetsu Beach and jogged towards the... _ mass.  _ It was the only word that Minato could use before stopping in her tracks. Her hands flew to her mouth. Laying before her was a corpse. The skin had sunken in, cracking along the holes where eyes should’ve been. Mouth agape, teeth burned down to the roots. Ribs protruded out from leathery skin. A slosh of meat was half buried in the sand. The smell was worse than rotting fish because the decaying figure looked so... _ human. _

If there had been meat on where the cheeks should’ve been, if there was life where they eyes should’ve been, if there was joy on what was left of the blackened tongue...Minato would’ve been gazing down at her father. This was her father. Her memories sewed the flesh and smile that were burned from the remains. Minato remembered how her father looked so peaceful in his casket, just fifteen years ago. How he was snug in a suit before he was lowered into the countryside, and yet his body was here.

His body was sewn to a fleshy tail that oozed and crumbled across the sand. Minato couldn’t tear her eyes away. This had to be a nightmare. This had to be Hell. Every breath had a piece of her father in it, and Minato collapsed into the sand in front of him. She gagged. Spit slipped from her lips and collected into the shallow puddle beside her father.

_ You’re not him!  _ A chunk of Minato’s hair was in her hand. She cursed, she cried, and she screamed at the corpse in front of her. She told herself, over and over again, that this  _ thing  _ was a pale imitation of her father. Her father was buried safely in the countryside, not here. Not where the seagulls can defile and rip into his innards.

_ No...No. No! _

Forty-five minutes after seven, Minato wandered into her sister’s home. Sand caked the front of her knees, and Minato stared dead into Chiho’s eyes when she opened the front door.

“Hanako?” Chiho patted her sister’s back, awkwardly at first. Minato fell into Chiho’s arms and sobbed on her shoulder. Her cries were muffled by Chiho’s jacket. When Chiho asked her what was wrong, all Minato could think of was her father. Not the smiling, pleasant man that she always remembered him by, but the corpse on Hasetsu Beach.

 

_ A sound heart… _

Mari followed Yuuri when he came to Yokamoto Hospital. They walked in together, holding each other by the arm. After a long period of waiting, Viktor was allowed to leave the hospital. While Mari endured the lectures that from the accompanying nurses, Yuuri shuffled from behind. His hands twisting up to the collar of his shirt, and Yuuri’s heart thumped a mile a minute. His breath was hitched at the back of his throat.

Yuuri could hear what the nurses were saying, but his thoughts were occupied. Viktor was leaving the hospital. Viktor was coming home. Home, the word meant family to Yuuri. But here in Hasetsu, Viktor didn’t have  _ a  _ family. He had the Katsuki family. Viktor was going to live at Yutopia Springs. Viktor was going to stay in the guest room and live out his days with Yuuri’s family. He was going to bathe in the hot springs and cradle the warmth and love that he had neglected for a hundred and twenty years. Viktor was... _ Viktor was… _

“Yuuri?” Mari’s voice reeled Yuuri back to reality. They were at the door, they were at Viktor’s door. On the other side, Viktor was receiving his last checkup before he was free to leave. Yuuri knew that the first thing that Viktor wanted to eat were the gummy fish from the nearby vending machine. Yuuri’s fingers skimmed over the rim of the coins, easing his heart.

“Am I dreaming?” Yuuri whispered.

“Even when you wake up, this will all be real.” Mari clasped one of Yuuri’s shoulders and shook it around. “Viktor’s real. He always has been, and he’ll always be.” Mari watched Yuuri quietly. She observed every twitch from his shoulders up to his neck. Every impulse that drew his body insane, they fired all at once.

Yuuri could almost feel Viktor underneath his finger tips. He could feel Viktor’s jawline. He could feel Viktor’s wispy hair. The ocean was as deep as Viktor’s eye because Yuuri always found himself there, swimming in the colors that made Viktor so real. So versatile, like the edge of the shore or the water running in Yuuri’s bathtub.

Tearing his fingers away from his shirt’s collar, Yuuri found the handle to Viktor’s door. Mari touched Yuuri’s hand and helped him slide the door open.

 

_ A sound body… _

 

Viktor perked up when he heard the door. A wall,  _ his doctor, _ stood in front of him. Viktor couldn’t see who walked in, but heard a familiar squeak of shoes. The golden chain around Viktor’s neck bounced, and the silver ring attached to the loop slid over the curves and hills of his shirt. It was a size smaller than what Viktor would prefer, and his shoulders nearly ripped new arm-holes when Viktor craned his neck. Just over his doctor’s head, Viktor locked his gaze on Mari. Standing beside Mari, tapping the tiled floor with the tip of his sneakers, was Yuuri.

Behind Viktor, where his window was open to let in fresh air, he heard a flutter of seagulls.

Dressed in an outfit that spelled  _ H-O-M-E _ with its colors, Yuuri locked his eyes with Viktor’s only one and smiled. Viktor whistled underneath his breath. His heart had finally healed, and Yuuri was hurting it again. Not with pain, but with love because his smile looked so pretty against the sunrise. Viktor wrinkled his bedsheets with his fingers. He wanted to hold Yuuri. He wanted to envelope Yuuri into his arms and hold him close. Viktor wanted to nuzzle his cheek into Yuuri’s hair and feel Yuuri’s heartbeats next to his own.

Every nerve in VIktor’s body told him to sprint. He wanted to run past his doctor and tackle Yuuri onto the floor. Time would stop for the briefest of a moment so that all Yuuri and Viktor could see were each other before Viktor cushioned Yuuri’s fall. Even if his hands hurt or if his body was messed up again, Viktor craved for Yuuri’s touch. The desire was so strong that Viktor tuned out his doctor’s voice. The blank canvas that was his face, soon a paintbrush came in and colored a growing smile.

The love in Viktor’s heart spilled onto the floor. But when his doctor stepped aside and allowed Yuuri to come forward, Yuuri caught the love from Viktor’s heart with a simple gesture. He held Viktor’s hand in his own.

“Welcome home, Viktor.”

 

_ And, a sound soul… _

_ “You’ve had your fun,”  _ Chi whispered. At those words, Chihoko’s control over her body ceased. Alone, just a few mile aways from Yokamoto Hospital, Chi collapsed onto her knees. The red dress that she had worn for the past few days was soiled, tattered, and ripped all the way up to her mid-thigh. For God knew how long, Chi was forced to watch as Chihoko did her own bidding with a newly acquired body. Her body,  _ Chi’s body,  _ didn’t feel the same.

For now, she was able to suppress Chihoko. After weeks and weeks of persistence, Chi finally had her way. She panted, barely able to keep her heart steady before another burn knifed her from the inside. Chi could only suppress Chihoko for so long before the internal fire destroyed her.

No matter how many times Chihoko cursed in the corner of her mind, Chi remained strong. Though she was fragile and only human, her endurance long-lasted Chihoko’s. Soon, Chihoko’s voice faded like the wind and so did the pain in Chi’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the slump period that I call "Viktor at the hospital", Arc 2 really kicks off from here.


	49. Holding You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Makkachin reunite.

There was something serene about how Viktor stood in the water. His back faced Yuuri when he waded waist-deep into the ocean. On the little patch of beach near Yuuri’s work, Viktor wanted to feel the ocean against his skin. Little waves splashed up and soaked the bottom of his shirt, and there was a sense of peace. A sense of belonging, somehow.

Having spent so many years in the sea, it was hard to say  _ goodbye. _ This old home that had taught Viktor almost everything that he knew, this home that had sheltered him from the worst storms in life, lyrics slipped from Viktor’s lips as his own way of a farewell.

Yuuri recognized the song. It was one of the few songs he used to hear from Viktor when they first met, roughly a year ago. It was an old song, passed down by mers along a succeeding line, and Viktor didn’t have to think when he recited the melody. The words felt a bit foreign and lost, partially because Viktor had stopped singing the familiar tune because he wasn’t alone anymore. This song,  _ this melody that he heard in passing,  _ spoke of a mer that longed for a sailor to hold. Not just for a meal, or for a soul, but someone to keep them company.

The song was incomplete, and Viktor only knew the first two verses before repeating what he knew again. His voice grew stronger, and the harshness of his syllables dulled over into something smooth and pretty for the ears. His voice attracted a familiar puffer fish from the deep, and Makkachin poked her head up and squeaked.

Yuuri could only imagine the expression on Viktor’s face. Pure bliss? A shine to his eye? A growing smile because his dear friend was in front of him? Yuuri could hear Viktor’s delight when he squeaked. Viktor cupped his hands together, and Makkachin leapt out of the water. Flopping around in Viktor’s hands, Makkachin squeaked. She kissed Viktor’s cheek when Viktor nuzzled his cheek against her lips.

VIktor whistled softly, and Makkachin hugged him with her fins. After the cherished reunion, Viktor turned his head and whistled for Yuuri. Yuuri approached the water’s edge, and there was a small pail in his hands. He filled it with water, and Viktor gently placed Makkachin inside it.

“You miss her a lot.” Yuuri poked Makkachin’s tail when the puffer fish punched the pail with her fin. She made a tiny squeak.

“She’s my friend,” Viktor whispered. The amount of affection in those three words lifted a smile over Yuuri’s lips.

Now that Makkachin was coming home too, Viktor could finally leave the water. He stared at the ocean for a lingering moment before following Yuuri up to the sidewalk, and they walked together. Viktor stumbled in his steps, but he never fell because Yuuri was always there to catch him. After a little bit, Viktor hugged one of Yuuri’s arms. Yuuri slowed his pace into something more manageable, and Viktor thanked him.

After a while, Yutopia Springs caught their attention. Viktor squeezed the ends of his shorts so that water wouldn’t drip into the establishment. Making a good impression for his new home was important to Viktor.

Just beyond the front door, a grand feast was prepared at one of the dining tables. Hiroko was going to stuff Viktor until he couldn’t eat anymore. Toshiya had an entire camera roll ready to take endless selfies with Viktor. Mari was already uncorking bottles in the kitchen. There was going to be a lot of love and family beyond the front door, and Viktor had to close his eye. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t a dream.

He had Makkachin. He had Yuuri. He had a family. And now, he had a home.

Viktor felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He could feel his mother and father’s presence behind him. Were they happy for him? Were they a bit sad because he wasn’t returning to Russia? No, their touch felt warm and inviting, like a kiss from the sun on a warm afternoon.

_ “Welcome home.” _

When the front door opened, Viktor was almost taken back when Hiroko embraced him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like aliens, I'm working on a fic called [Tabula Rasa](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13364784/chapters/30603876). It's told in a ficlet-format just like Mer!Ficlet, and it focuses on the psychology behind an alien invasion/apocalypse.


	50. Tall Glass of Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his first night at Yutopia Springs, Viktor and Mari have a bonding moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solely because of this chapter, I had to bump up the rating of the fic.
> 
> Please consult your doctor before you start drinking a lot of alcohol after you're discharged from the hospital, and drink responsibility. Always have a trusted friend or individual nearby.

About an hour and four drinks later, Viktor wasn’t sure if the Mari in front of him was the real Mari or a figment of his imagination. Slumped over one of the dining tables at Yutopia Springs, a hiccup jerked Viktor’s head. The back of his throat burned, and it worsened with every groan. Mari,  _ she had to be real, _ slid a damp cloth next to Viktor’s forehead. Viktor buried his face against it and a sigh escaped from his lips. His fingers fumbled across the table until he found Mari’s hand. He held it for dear life when the world spun around him, even though all he could see was the table.

“I’m going to guess that this is your first night of booze.” Mari poured Viktor a steaming cup of rice wine before pouring a glass for herself. A white cup slid across the table and bumped into Viktor’s head. Viktor slowly raised his head, eyeing his portion like it was the plague.  _ “Kampa,” _ Mari mumurred under her breath. She took a swig and Viktor copied her.

His cheeks grew pinker by the minute, and Viktor shuddered when he finished his drink. At the same time, he and Mari slammed their cups onto the table. While Mari seemed fine for the most part, besides the obvious red creeping up her neck, Viktor rested his face on the table to ease his mind. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be drinking, considering that he was released from a hospital about thirteen hours ago. But after all the fun he had with Yuuri’s family and all the food that Hiroko stuffed him with, a few drinks wouldn’t hurt.

At least that was what Viktor told himself now he slipped off from the dining table and laid on the floor. A burp ripped the silence between him and Mari. Mari patted her chest with her fist, and Viktor twitched when he heard Mari’s burp. Viktor hiccuped and giggled, clutching his sides and feeling the alcohol in him slosh around. He rolled around until Mari lifted a bottle and poured Viktor some more rice wine. When Mari tapped the bottle’s neck against the cup, Viktor rose up slowly. He propped a hand and an arm behind him for support before lifting his glass. He toasted with Mari and drank again.

The alcohol burned him afterwards but at the moment, it reminded Viktor of the sea. When he closed his eyes, Viktor imagined himself in a warm current. Where the sun shone brightly in the sky, and there was delicious fish between his teeth. The memory made Viktor feel warm and fuzzy inside, and he purred when he rested his chin on the table. Everything felt right, despite the dizziness Viktor’s head and the inevitable hangover for tomorrow. He and Mari were enjoying a bonding moment with booze. What could be better than that?

“Hey, Viktor?” The gruffness of Mari’s accent was more noticeable when she was drunk. Each syllable had a harshness to it, much like the mer-language in a way. It intrigued Viktor, so he lifted his head. “Do you want to play game with me?”

Viktor didn’t understand a single word that crept out from Mari’s lips. But when Mari reached for a big glass and a small glass for her little game, Viktor squeaked until Mari told him to be quiet. She pressed a finger against her lips and made a shushing sound. Viktor copied her, but his finger was pressed against his nose instead. Viktor chuckled at himself, and Mari laughed as well. Out of pity or not, it didn’t matter.

Mari grabbed a new bottle and uncorked it. The steaming goodness tipped out from the mouth and spilled into the big cup. Just enough to fill at least half before Mari rested the bottle next to her. Picking up the little cup, Mari dropped it into the bigger one. Viktor whistled when the little cup floated on top of the alcohol.

“We take turns pouring into the little cup until it sinks.” Mari hiccuped into the crook of her elbow. She could’ve dabbed if she wanted to, but memes were for another night. Tonight, she and Viktor were going to be each other’s bros. By bros, Mari wanted to say:  _ I’m going to question the Hell out of you. _

Despite the alternative motive, the bonding time she and Viktor had was enjoyable. Mari tipped her portion into the little cup before sliding the sake bottle to Viktor. Viktor leaned across the table to pour his bit. Ambitious, he filled half of the little glass before passing the bottle.

Mari poured a drop. She slammed the sake bottle onto Viktor’s side of the table and winked at him. As soon as Viktor poured, the little glass sank into its pool of alcohol.

“Up yours, Viktor,” Mari muttered under her breath. She pushed the big glass towards Viktor. He stared at it for a moment, wondering if his stomach could handle all the alcohol. His throat was on fire, and Viktor coughed when he requested for a glass of water. When Mari was gone, VIktor downed the big glass. His lips pressed firmly at the rim, and the little cup inside bumped him when it slid down.

All the sake left Viktor breathless, considering that he held his breath. By the time Mari came back with a cup of water, Viktor was on the floor. He shook his stomach with his hands, and Mari heard the alcohol slosh around inside.

It was pretty weird, but at least Mari knew that Viktor was having a good time.

“C’mon, drink some water. Your migraine will thank me later.” Mari grabbed Viktor’s hands and helped him up. Viktor whined with every tug before he sat up on his own. A cup of water was waiting for him, and Viktor nursed his drink. Mari stumbled back to her spot at the table and started a new round of the drinking game. Her eyes flickered upwards, catching Viktor’s gaze. There was a human quality to his eye.

It wasn’t just the color, or how Viktor seemed to narrow in on Mari’s thoughts. There was just this presence that eased Mari. She wasn’t sure if it was because Viktor was human, or if his eye reassured her about that.

_ Did you kill? Did you steal a soul?  _ Mari couldn’t ask these questions. Not while Viktor was watching her every move. Mari pushed the sake bottle and the cups to Viktor so that he could pour first. Viktor tipped the bottle and a healthy amount of alcohol filled the small cup floating in the middle.

“Viktor.”

Viktor rested the sake bottle on the table and before he grunted.

Elbows propped on the table, Mari tilted her head ever-so slightly. “You have a soul, right?” She poured her portion of sake when Viktor pushed the bottle and glasses towards her. It was an absent pour. Mari didn’t pay attention to how much she tipped out because Viktor was chewing the edge of his thumbnail.

So what was it? Did Viktor kill, or did he steal?

Mari bit the edge of her bottom lip. “What about Chihoko? Seen her?”

Viktor didn’t respond. He caught the sake bottle with unsettling ease when Mari shoved it across the dining table. The big glass and the small cup inside it slid across the table as well, a much gentler push than with the bottle.

Viktor tipped about a drop of sake before sliding everything back to Mari. Mari poured until alcohol spilled over the rim of the big glass. She slammed the bottle down and dunked her head back. She drank everything in a single shot. Worry creased Viktor’s forehead, and he offered to get a cup of water for Mari.

Some sake dripped from her mouth as Mari slowly swallowed what she had. Her eyes were bloodshot. It was hard to talk, but Mari found her strength when Viktor didn’t answer her questions.

“I haven’t seen that piece of coal in weeks,” Mari muttered under her breath. She could’ve dropped a cuss word if she wanted to. She could’ve dropped obscene phrases and words that would’ve lasted a lifetime, but Mari held herself back. Even though the alcohol loosened her tongue, Mari monitored herself when she was around Viktor.

It would be a nasty surprise if Viktor learned a new word from her, and Mari wouldn’t be able to live it down. Words were just words, but the weight behind the delivery gave them their impact. If Viktor used obscenities willy-nilly, no one would respect him. That was the damn truth when Mari refilled the big glass for another drinking round.

By the time she was finished, the sake bottle was empty. Mari could almost feel Viktor’s breath against her cheek, despite the latter sitting across the table.

_ “If turning back into a mer could save a life, would you do it?” _


	51. Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've pretty much reached the fluffy portion of the series, so the chapters are going to be kind of short for a while.

The sunrise tasted so sweet when Yuuri opened his eyes. In his bed, in his room, with Vicchan drooling over his shoulder and breathing over his chest, Yuuri laid in silence for what felt like an hour before rising up slowly. He cradled Vicchan in his arms and scratched behind the poodle’s ear. Vicchan stirred in his sleep, nuzzling his snout against Yuuri’s neck.

Feeling the cold, hardwood floor underneath his feet, Yuuri peeked into one of the guest rooms down the hall. Asleep, with his bangs fluttering with every snore, there was  _ Sleeping Beauty.  _ Viktor was nestled under two layers of blankets. Obvious flush around his cheeks and neck from a late-night of drinking that he had with Mari. Floating in a tank on the nightstand was Makkachin, and the puffer fish squeaked and splashed around when she saw Vicchan.

The sound stirred Viktor in his dream, and he mumbled a strange mix of Japanese, Russian, and Mer into a single sentence. Viktor rolled around before opening his eye. He saw Yuuri by the door, and Viktor mumbled if he was dreaming or not. He wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mer!Ficlet is going to be on hold for about a week or two because I want to write/edit a story for Valentine's. :D


	52. Memoirs of a Pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor took it upon himself to walk. From the threshold of his room to the end of the hallway, to feel the sun against his skin, and to remind his legs that he could walk again. In doing so, a familiar from a long-forgotten past fades into Viktor's reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a darker side to Viktor's past

_ “In every man, there is Desire.” _

The hilt never faltered from Viktor’s touch. He swung forward, two steps swept under his feet. His knees shook, unsure of the steps he took. His breath was as short as it came when Viktor lifted his blade. In the moment, the blade was invisible and mere air between his hands. But in his imagination’s eye, it was a grimy sword that was passed into his hands before a comrade fell at his feet. Their fingers brushed against Viktor’s ankle, the taste of their voice left a strong reminder when he stepped forward.

Where was he?

If Vicchan could speak, he would say that Viktor was inching down the hallway and into the sunlight. The poodle rolled onto his belly, wrinkling his nose whenever Viktor flinched or treaded carefully into the shadows.

But in Viktor’s mind, he was on a ship in the Baltic Sea. Salt hovering over his lips, his hair clung to his neck because of sweat, and the centre stage armed with faceless spectres of the night. Fledged demons with fire over their wings. This was the witching hour of the sirens, and damnation had come with the struck of lightning.

_ “There is Desire to fight.” _

Protruded claws from this nightmare’s watch. Viktor spun through the crowd, his blade struck at the middle. His blade seeped into the fiery wings of a siren. Faceless, nameless, spoke in riddles and commands that compelled Viktor to do one thing when he sought to do the other. Though this was his imagination, though he was safe and that no one could harm him, Viktor trailed his blade down the length of a siren’s wing. A blood curdling scream heightened his heartbeat. Just a mere yard away, a siren had ripped the soul from a sinless pirate. The body collapsed in fire, forged by the flames it became a lyre for the siren to sing so sweetly to. The charcoal soul, the hardened marble of Viktor’s shipmate, fell into the siren’s pouch. She looked at Viktor, so innocently with amber eyes. The same eyes that would haunt him, a hundred and twenty years later.

_ “There is Desire to protect.” _

A lyre turned to a shield when switched to its side. The siren snapped the blade out of Viktor’s hands and wielded it in her own. Playful jabs and swipes, backing Viktor to the edge of a godforsaken ship. In the background, he heard Captain cackle high to the winds because God had finally sent His army against a damn and irretrievable soul. In the midst of the battle, canons blasted into the air. Swinging chains through the whipping sails, wrapping around a siren’s leg or wing or neck. Snapping the bones like they were brittle bread, and the monsters fell and coiled at Captain’s feet. He stabbed his sword through their hearts. One by one. It took more to kill a siren, but Captain didn’t care. A kebab of wiggling and spiteful hearts spurred the anguish splashed across his eyes. He did this for his fallen men, his comrades.

_ “There is Desire, but no reward to gain.” _

Captain flicked his sword. Blood splattered against Viktor’s cheek before Captain hoisted him back to his feet. Captain gave Viktor his hat. The feather drooped down and tickled the bridge of Viktor’s nose. Captain relinquished the last of his doubloons, the coins sagged Viktor’s pockets. The last bottle of rum was thrusted into his arms, and it was hall full than empty. The slick neck nearly slipped from Viktor’s fingers. The downpour, the edge of the world where sirens were known to roam, bodies of people they once knew and cared for, Viktor stumbled. His feet caught around a rope of his own Fate, but Captain caught and freed him.

_ “There is Desire, and it comes with pain.” _

Captain wiped the fear from Viktor’s lips with his thumb. Captain smoothed over the skin and pushed up a smile for Viktor to wear. It was the last thing Captainsaw of his trusted first mate before taking arms. He rallied the sirens and they followed him up the ship. Viktor ran to the steering wheel when the ship caught the edge of the world, twisting it until his grimy hands bled. Captain’s hat slid back and Viktor looked up. Captain, with all his skill and all his might, he fell to the sirens. Too, his soul, his marble, fell to the claims of a siren’s hand. But no, even God didn’t want it. The siren dropped the marble and it slid through a crevice and fell below the deck. Even dead, Captain stayed with his ship. It was his first love, his life, and his deathbed.

Was there not a whistle? No, but a quiet one between Viktor’s teeth when reality bled through the seams of his imagination.

_ “There is Desire, and there is Hope.” _

Though these memories left Viktor shaken and stirred, his feet remained steady. His legs pulled him forward from the doorframe of his room to the end of the hallway in Yutopia Springs, where he smelled tempura shrimp wafting from the Katsuki’s kitchen. Hiroko peeked her head out from the kitchen and noticed Viktor. Quite pale, shaking from head to toe, but his face lifted for a smile when he met Hiroko’s gaze.

“Are you hungry?” She pulled off her apron. A spring to Hiroko’s steps when she came up to Viktor brushed his bangs to the side. A purr escaped from Viktor’s lips, he rubbed his face against Hiroko’s soft hands. “You’re a sweet child.” A smile radiated off of Hiroko’s tone when she extended her arm for Viktor to hold.

Viktor backed away. “By myself.” He tapped his toes against the wooden floorboards. “Please.”

Even so, Hiroko had her arm out if Viktor needed to steady himself when they walked to the kitchen together. Every step followed by the pitter patter of Vicchan’s feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on my oneshot for Valentines' Day, but I wanted to post a chapter because it's been a week. A week has been a long time, I think!


	53. Bridal Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I want you as you are, not as you ought to be."

The cruelest ring, hovering just over Yuuri’s finger when he stared out to the open sea, was a memory. Burned and wielded to fit his former shadow, of darker days where even a harmless splash would run his blood cold. The shape,  _ the pearl,  _ rested on top of a crown of thorns from a sea urchin. The creature, bit and molded around Yuuri’s digit, was held by a tiny sea snake. Its fangs poised against Yuuri’s skin, poison waiting for the drop of his guard. But in all these years where Yuuri stood simply by and gazed at the sea with wandering eyes, his mind gradually grew numb until the painful memory was nothing more than a few twitches along his fingers. The shell-shock, the fervor that used to choke him at night, didn’t bother Yuuri anymore. Grown as he was, Yuuri knew a thing or two about starving his demons, but he could never take the cruel, unnerving ring off from his finger. It just stayed there, a heavy reminder that his life was not his own.

The chapel at the sea, the Marine Rehabilitation Centre, was where Yuuri met his guests. Yuuko, with all her clipboards and the bottles of energy Ox that she had been drinking, was a bit too keen about seeing Yuuri in his wedding suit. It was a rather simple suit, a wetsuit. Designed if he ever wanted to take a splash, and Yuuri’s bouquet laid in across hands. His snorkel tested and it worked well with the pairing oxygen tank, a toast for later. His best man, Takeshi, wore his best wetsuit and squeaked across the lobby. His flippers slapped against the floor while he tugged at a wedgie that hitched up his behind.

“A new suit will be coming, in two weeks.” Yuuko’s skimmed the edge of Takeshi’s cheek. A quick kiss, a quick touch to rekindle familiar memories, before Takeshi twirled Yuuko in his arms. They spun, like newlyweds. Yuuri watched from the corner of his eye, busying himself with string and flashlights before an ecological oversight along the Gulf of Hasetsu. Rope weighing down his fingers, scraping against his palms, Yuuri smiled back when Takeshi strung him along with the tender embraces. Yuuri a poke on his cheek, a feathery kiss from a pair of gloves, and a veil shadowed over his eyes when Yuuko planted a fisherman’s hat on his head.

Sunny, mid-afternoon. Bright enough where shadows weren’t too much of a hindrance, but Takeshi kept a flashlight by his belt when he stepped into a rowboat, just outside the Rehabilitation Centre. Docked on a private pier, the rest of the supplies sat there for Yuuri and Takeshi. A few containers for curious samples, a water-test kit, and a few tarps to encompass an animal if they found an injured one thrashing across the sea. Just before they rowed, Yuuko wished Yuuri and Takeshi the best as the boat drifted through the water. The anchoring line slipped off the private pier and fell into the water. Floating like a tail or a lure before Yuuri drew it up and kept it with the rest of the rope.

His eyes skimmed the water’s edge, unable to makeout the depths below. Swirling strips of seaweed and clumps of algae blanketed the surface, but nothing was too out of the ordinary as the boat rowed silently like a chariot down a graveyard. The water was still, ripples pulsated the water with every slap of an oar. Takeshi strained his eyes, hoping to see more. Perhaps for a friend or a lazy fish, but the depths were lifeless. Dead, like the colors in Yuuri’s eyes when he reached his fingers over the boat and ran it over the velvet fabric that was the Gulf of Hasetsu.

There may’ve been a question lurking on the tip of Takeshi’s tongue, but he didn’t say it. Snorkel across his face, his oxygen tank strapped to his back like a sturdy turtle’s shell, Takeshi tied one end of a rope around his wrist before he dove head-first into the water. A sliver of rope crawled over the rim of the boat, bit by bit, until Takeshi’s silhouette disappeared over the surface and the eerie light from his flashlight was all that was left. Yuuri dragged the bundle of rope onto his lap and sat in silence. His ears perked up at times when gulls soared, overhead. Their feathers dancing in the air before they fell like silent rain across Yuuri’s thigh.

Now that he was alone, Yuuri could sigh. For Heaven’s sake, Yuuri never sighed when he entered the pool with the barking seals and their pups. Yuuri never sighed when he scuba-dived to the very end of a pool to retrieve a toy that a dolphin had misplaced in their tank. Yuuri never sighed when he surfaced from a feeding frenzy, his legs and arms kissed by a swarm of stingray as they jetted past him for fish. Yuuri never sighed when he unearthed a sardine from a frozen block. With a hatchet and the largest nail that science could make without him requiring a license to use it.

Now that he was alone, Yuuri knew that all those moments were simply drops in the ocean. Minute, tiny drops that quickly darkened just below the sea. The imaginary ring, coiled around his finger, tightened ever-so slightly when Yuuri tugged at his wetsuit. Feeling the fabric ride up his chest, biting into his skin like a plastic collar. His reflection, a flickering memory in a desolate underworld, appeared to Yuuri. Not as himself, but as a younger-version of himself. A ten-year-old, hunched over with his knees pressed against his chest. Face covered his bangs, his glasses slipping off from his nose and falling like a ripple along the ocean.

A creature from the depths had slipped a painful engagement ring onto his finger, and a veil clouded Yuuri’s face. From then there, Yuuri was bound to his bridal mask, clammy and disconcerting for a youth’s face. One of the few things Yuuri remembered to wear when he became an adult, smoothing the mask like a tie for his suit when he saw his reflection in the morning mirror.

That creature was Viktor. No, the creature was who Yuuri thought Viktor was ought to be. After his first brush with a mer, Yuuri had convinced his life that the sea harbored more monsters than it was worth. Honest to God, Yuuri believed that for a long time before he came to view Viktor as who he was instead. That the scary fangs, the hurtful hands, and the frightening tail were just nightmares. Just images that Yuuri had created to help numb the pain. These images couldn’t compare to the pretty smile, the soft hands, and the happy tail that Yuuri had grown to know during the year. The nightmares were pale against the heartfelt voice, the tender embraces, the the unsteady feet that used to follow Yuuri, up and down the hallway just so that Viktor could be near Yuuri and follow in the former’s footsteps.

With those thoughts, the ocean didn’t seem so scary anymore. Yuuri could see a bit of the seafloor and the life swirling down below. Of tiny fishes, zooming by when a larger fish stalked through the seaweed forest. Yuuri felt a tug on his life and Takeshi emerged from the depths, pulling the bottom portion of his mask off and shouting for assistance. Yuuri pulled Takeshi back to the boat, weighing him down was a body. A blackened, chiseled corpse of a mer that had seen a much better time before their untimely death.

The chest pulsated, as if the heart was thumping, but it was simply because of the lungs. Water dribbled past the lips when Takeshi hoisted the mer onto the boat, and Yuuri wasn’t sure where to hold. He caught an arm, or what was left of it. He shouldered a shoulder, or the mere socket of it. He cradled the head against his elbow, and the mer’s fangs sunk gently into his wetsuit. It was kind of gross, kind of freaky to see the ribs sticking out from stretched skin. Takeshi tried to keep the tail together, but clumps of flesh just slid off the bone and soiled the water around Takeshi.

He had a sushi joke in mind, but it wasn’t appropriate for right now.

“I found some more near a cove,” Takeshi said, pointing out to the distance behind him. “Do you think these mers are related to that one found a few days ago on the beach?”

“Could be…” Yuuri’s voice faded when he grabbed the oars. Rowing himself and the mer across the black waters, Takeshi led the boat to the graveyard spot. Just before Yuuri could pull his oars out of the water, they touched a body. No, several bodies. Bones and mangled flesh surfaced, brought up by pockets of air inside the cavities of each and every body. About twelve were floating near the surface, dried up by the sun.

Takeshi didn’t touch them. If he did, they would’ve disintegrated into nothing. These were the brides and grooms that waited at an altar, hoping for the day where their soul would walk down the aisle. But now, the mers were nothing more than a pile of ash and wood for a dead candle. Fate had given them the bad cards this time around, and the cost of their lives paid off the bill.

Yuuri felt a mixture of emotions in his heart. None of which surfaced over his blank face, but this graveyard before him felt like an analogy. That if he had succumbed to the burdens that had plagued a good portion of his life, he could’ve been like these mers. Dead, burned out, and unable to reunite with happier times that laid ahead.

It was a sick analogy, disturbing Yuuri when he grabbed Takeshi’s hand. Takeshi climbed back onto the boat, and he and Yuuri helped rest the final corpse into the water. It sank, almost with a smile. Almost as if the mer was thanking them, and a joyous reunion of flesh and bone melded in the water.

Despite not having souls for their own, the mers lived on. If that wasn’t the perfect analogy, then Yuuri wouldn’t have let his bridal mask slip. The facade and the imaginary ring were simply drops in the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this update, I felt numb. I wasn’t in-sync with my emotions, and I felt like I was just walking through life without a purpose. Weighed down by a facade that I wanted people to see so that they wouldn’t get close. I felt like Yuuri, numb to the past and everything seemed black-and-white.
> 
> But as I wrote more of the update and towards the end, I felt uplifted. Perhaps, it was because I conversed with some people while typing and it made me feel good. Perhaps, I got to share a beautiful memory with the person that I love. Perhaps, I felt at ease because I enjoyed how this chapter made me feel when I started today as a numb shadow of who I am. That’s the beauty of this fic for me. It lets me clear my thoughts, and I get to find my healing through the characters.
> 
>  
> 
> Yesterday, I started one of the most ambitious projects of my writing career:  [ a mafia!fic ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13529628/chapters/31037085) . I got to tackle a lot of emotional aspects that I enjoy writing in fanfic, and it was fun writing the first chapter during the past 3 weeks. Writing really inspired the writing style you read just earlier.


	54. Much Ado About Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari encounters an interesting character at a ramen shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I write for Mari, the chapters are usually longer. She's such an interesting character to write for, and she's a lot of fun~!

Peach-flavored gummy fish whisked Mari’s attention as she lifted crates of alcohol out of her shopping cart. Sleeves rolled, up to her elbow for leverage, Mari licked her lips when she saw her reflection over the glossy plastic bag. Nudging one of the gummy bags with one of her crates, the snack slipped onto the conveyor belt and was wheeled towards the cashier. The tiniest beep and a smile crept from the barcode scanner when the gummy treat was checked out.

“Can you put that in a bag please?” Mari rolled down her sleeves. Her ponytail nearly undone when she dug through her handbag for her wallet. The cashier, a sweet gentleman, offered a hairpin for the wayward bangs that inched down Mari’s forehead. A smile pressed over her lips when she smoothed her hair back, and she thanked the cashier. Elbow propped on top of the handle of her shopping cart, Mari imitated some clicks that she had heard from Viktor. They were little sounds, something that a kid would do to echolocate if they wanted to.

To the people behind Mari, they probably thought she was childish. Here she was, a grown woman purchasing more than a week’s worth of alcohol and clicking like no one’s business. To Mari, she was refilling the sake-stock in her parents’ storage closet for the inn.  _ And,  _ the clicks weren’t disruptions. Better than the screeching ringtones beyond her ear when Mari slid a crumpled note across the counter. Just as she did, the cashier rang up her total. Numbers flashed, running right to left, before Mari scooted her change into her handbag. The coins rustling together when Mari grabbed her cart. All the sake crates, all twelve stamped with a  _ SOLD  _ ticket, were stacked neatly and didn’t topple over when Mari passed the store’s threshold.

She pocketed the little gummy fish treat, found a safe spot for it in the minivan before she drove down the street after lugging alcohol into the back. The crates didn’t slide around, but the little gummy fish treat did. It toppled over with every turn and sometimes, Mari had to fish it off from the floor during a red light. In the end, she held it with a seat belt and a thin smile poked appeared on her face.

How would Viktor react? Would he squeak like no tomorrow and simply cuddle Mari in his arms? Would he bury his face into the crook of her shoulder and whisper a jumble of Russian, Japanese, and some incoherent squeaks? Would he nibble every gummy fish, one by one with rosy cheeks? Would he gobble the gummies with no mercy? Hundreds of scenarios bounced around in Mari’s mind until her stomach dominated those thoughts.

She was hungry. Imagining an imaginary-Viktor as he gobbled up imaginary-gummies made Mari hungry, legitimately. She could steal a gummy and Viktor wouldn’t know. The thought lingered in the back of Mari’s mind when she parked her car near a ramen shop. Before she opened the door, Mari smelled the rich, savory broth through the window. Pressing her face against the glass, Mari followed her nose until she found a tasty bowl that a child was slurping and she just had to pick that bowl. That bowl of ramen to satisfy this mid-afternoon’s craving. Yes, Mari may’ve been channeling her inner-Viktor for this moment, but it was worth it.

Her sneakers squeaked against the concrete, her fingers fitted around the door handle and she pulled. Immediately, the sweet sizzle of  _ gyōza _ was equivalent to a choir of angels descending over Hasetsu when Mari took her first steps into the ramen shop. Humming a soft tune, Mari approached one of the ordering machines and skimmed her finger down the buttons until she spotted the ramen that smelled so delectable earlier when she was in the minivan. A ticket plopped out from the dispenser, and Mari saw her order on a flat screen in the corner. Somewhere in the kitchen, someone was making magic in a bowl when Mari sat down and waited for her meal. Her fingers twitched around her meal ticket, wondering if she should also get the  _ gyōza _ while fresh ones were ready to be served.

Safe to say, five minutes later, Mari came back to her table with a red tray. Centered in the middle was Mari’s miso bowl. Uppercutting to the left were crispy yet soft  _ gyōza _ , a beautiful shine over the skin when Mari crossed under an overhead light. Jabbing to the right were a few peppers, pickled and drowned in their seeds and juices.

Mari’s weapon: a pair of chopsticks that she separated with her teeth. A moment to bless this food and the hands that cared, grew, and crafted such a beautiful masterpiece before her eyes. Though the ramen bowl and the extra dumplings on the side were about three-USDs, nothing else would’ve satisfied Mari’s mouth when she drank the broth first.

Unfortunately, Mari wasn’t paid by a food network to describe how the broth tasted, but she kept coming back for seconds before enjoying her first strands of noodles. Mari slurped, broth splashing up onto her chin, and she wiped it back. A good half of the bowl was finished before Mari’s chopsticks wandered over and grabbed a dumpling or three. Tearing through the middle, the rich steam inside rose to Mari’s face. Almost like a marinade of happiness and all the blessings in her life combined into one dumpling.

Just as Mari neared the end of her meal, a woman in a trenchcoat came into the ramen shop. The click of her sneakers, rubbing against the tiled floor in a slow shuffle, singled her out for a moment before the woman ducked her head from curious eyes. Mari raised an eyebrow. Her dumpling slipped from her chopsticks and fell into her empty bowl with a sad  _ plop.  _ She recognized this person. From where? On the news lately? Had to be. Mari watched as the woman stiffly pressed a button for her ramen meal, and she took a table right next to Mari’s. Total eye-contact couldn’t be avoided when they accidently brushed knees when the woman passed by.

“My apologies.”

That voice clicked a wire in Mari’s mind. Sitting next to her was Minato Looker, the used-to-be leader for an investigation team. Something about Viktor didn’t have an identity, someone from Russia came over and sent his medical file over, and the team disbanded right then and there for whatever reason. Mari didn’t know much about the Hasetsu Police Department, but there had to be a good reason why Minato was on the lay-low if she didn’t want people to notice her. So, Mari looked away and gave Minato the privacy she wanted.

Perhaps, Fate designed things to go a certain way in order for people to speak. When Mari glanced away, she caught a reflection of Minato in a mirror propped up in a corner. Easy-view to see how many customers were in the shop if someone glanced from the kitchen, and Mari so happened to look just as Minato flipped through the Google news feed on her phone. From a glance, Mari couldn’t make out the words but when Minato’s thumb froze over a peculiar headline...well, Mari kind of lost her appetite.

_ Corpses found in the Gulf of Hasetsu. _

Another thought clicked in Mari’s mind. Minato was the first person to find a corpse on Hasetsu Beach. Ever since then, she disappeared from the news’ world and from the public’s eye. In an interview awhile back, she adamantly refused to investigate the mystery, despite her being the one that sort of started it.

The realization hit Mari harder than the ramen, than the wafts, and than the wonderful experience she had before this very moment. What could she do? What could she say? Best to look away? No, Minato clearly knew that Mari was looking at her through a reflection on a mirror, no doubt.

_ What would Yuuri do?  _ The thought lingered and crashed. Yuuri, hell he knew those corpses were mers when he first saw news about it during the first incident, and now he was part of the case because he and Takeshi found  _ twelve  _ more. Trouble always seemed to follow Yuuri, whether he knew it or not. Adding an edge to Mari’s stress when she stabbed her chopsticks against her ramen bowl.

_ What would Viktor do?  _ In a sum of two words, Viktor would make “small talk.” Attempt at it for a little bit before apologizing for his sloppy Japanese, and then fiddling around with Russian words until more Japanese spilled from his lips. Kind of a weird cycle that had no beginning or end, but there were breaks where someone could speak as Viktor tried to find the right word to something. So following that concept, Mari did her best at “small talk.” By some miracle, Minato’s face brightened by a few shades as the conversation grew naturally from there.

“I remember your face from the  _ Nanase case  _ a few years ago,” Mari mentioned, spinning one half of chopstick pair between her fingers. “You were the lead for that investigation too.”

“Wow, how long has that been? What? Three years?” A smile blossomed over Minato’s lips, pink flushed against her cheeks for the first time in ages. “There were so many other cases going on at the--”

“It’s hard to forget people when they leave a strong impression on you.”

Minato glanced up, meeting Mari’s eyes. Mari was already looking at her to begin with, and she didn’t look away when Minato grew more comfortable with her gaze. Something about the gold behind Mari’s eyes drew Minato closer until she was sharing a table with Mari, quite literally. Hands rested near Mari’s, Minato leaned a bit close so that she could hear Mari better. Somewhere in the conversation, Mari’s hair slipped out from a ponytail. Black and yellow curls rolled down her neck, spilling over her shoulder.

“You were stubborn like a potato when you tried to find closure for the family after their son died,” Mari said. “You did a lot to help the family recover and that leaves an impression.”

“Something similar happened to my family, and I didn’t want others to experience the same... _ longing?”  _ Minato tested the word, and Mari gave a reassuring nod.

“Was the cause of death found out?”

Minato shook her head. “I’m more confused than ever now when I think about it. I saw my father’s face in the corpse I found. Crazy, right?” Minato casted her gaze elsewhere, not sure whether it was appropriate to say any of that. Despite the strange turn, Mari was curious by what Minato meant. “The body couldn’t be my father’s. It was like someone took a person and a fish and smashed them together.” Minato clapped her hands to emphasize her statement.

_ “Sounds like a mer,”  _ Mari mumbled under her breath.

“A what?”

Mari tilted her head to the side, eyeing Minato as if she had a secret. In reality, Mari  _ did  _ have a secret, but she wasn’t aware of the atmosphere and the sly gaze hovering over her features.

“For a long time, people saw beings in the water. Whether they were spirits or something otherworldly, these creatures were referred as mer. A shorthand way of to refer to mar, the sea in Spanish.” Bless the foreign language credit for it was useful for once in Mari’s adult-life. “Over time, people began to add ‘maid’ or ‘man’ after mer after they recognized that these creatures had humanoid characteristics that could be classified with biology.”

Did Mari recite a passage she had read from her mother’s book about mers? Somewhat, but Mari summarized it a lot faster than the three  _ freakin’  _ pages dedicated solely to the etymology behind the word ‘mer.’ Perhaps, she came out a bit too strong with her words because Minato scooted back, digesting the information that garbled into the empty space between her and Mari.

“Are you like a contemporary fantasy writer or something?” Minato laughed, a wheeze soon followed. “Giving an explanation to why people gendered a word so that you could stop the trend?”

“First assumptions are usually wrong until you get to know someone.” Mari spoke as if poison dribbled past her lips, and she gave Minato the cold-shoulder. Leaving Minato to wonder what she had done wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part 1 of a 2-parter. Part 2 will be posted on Monday~
> 
> I could've written the whole thing into one chapter, but then this chapter would be really long.


	55. Simple and Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari gives her two-cents to Minato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title pretty much summarizes this chapter. Simple and clean. Mari is pretty annoyed with Minato right now, so she wanted to get the conversation over with. I don't blame her.

_ There had to be an analogy, _ Minato thought. She came to her shared table with Mari, her bowl of ramen in hand. Mari was busy, scrolling through her life. As if she didn’t notice Minato, but Mari pulled her legs closer to herself instead of leaving them where they were, stretched and fiddling with a leg of Minato’s prior seat. When Minato sat down, she scooted towards the table. Chopsticks poised in her hand. Her eyes, gazing down at perhaps the saddest looking bowl of ramen that Mari had ever seen.

Plain and simple. Just like Minato when she slurped the noodles out of the bowl. The broth was lackluster, a standard chicken broth that didn’t have a lot of weight behind it. Onions, bamboo shoots, hefty slices of pork, a dash of soy sauce could help “brighten” the mood if Minato cared for it. Judging by Mari’s looks and the slight part of her lips, she cared more about it than Minato.

“Do you want me to get you anything?”

“If you ask one question of mine.” Minato blinked innocently. Somehow, those two words shouldn’t have been paired together. However, Mari was a bit nicer than she wanted to be at the moment. As annoyed as she was, she kept things civil. Or at least, as civil as a conversation could be while Minato was entertained by how agitated Mari was. Was this a game to Minato? Mari had to tread carefully.

“Okay, what’s the question?”

“Hypothetically, would someone be considered crazy if they saw their deceased loved one in a stranger’s corpse?”

Mari’s phone fell onto the table with a harsh  _ clack.  _ Be damned if the screen cracked, and Mari wouldn’t have blamed her phone if it happened.

“How can it be hypothetical if that’s what you just told me, one chapter ago?”

“I find that making the question impersonal brings better results.” Minato lifted her head from her ramen bowl. A thick strand of noodle slurped upwards, and Minato rubbed her mouth with the back of her sleeve. “Answer my question.” A silent jab with the chopsticks. By accident, of course.

For the first time, Mari wished that she was born with a better ability than a mental shield from one’s commands. One, the ability only activated when the person she was speaking to had a commanding-ability to begin with. Two, Mari could deafen the stupidity that was before her. Not to say that Minato was stupid, but her questions made it difficult to take her seriously.

“I wouldn’t say that you’re crazy, per se.” Mari scooted back just as Minato leaned forward to hear everything she had to say. “However,” Mari folded her fingers, “I would be worried if your father’s death has affected you to this extent.”

The bowl of ramen, wafting so tenderly beneath Minato’s nose, it was as the steam was gone and she stuck her chopsticks into a shallow, cold basin. She didn’t rise from her seat, or took any motions of backing away when Mari pulled her phone off from the table. Minato froze like a child caught in the act of doing something wrong, and a blistered anger tore through the nice facade stamped across Minato’s face.

“Why should I let go of what happened to my father?” Every sign of crazy that Mari’s mother had told her when she was a child, she saw those signs splashed across Minato’s face. Not that she was crazy, but Minato was unsteady with her breathing. Little at best, a lot at worst. As if she was trying to cool herself off, and it transformed her into a monster bound to human flesh. It was...Things didn’t have to be this way.

“If you think you’re helping your family because you’ve dug your grave around your father’s, you’re really not helping anybody.” Simple and clean, that was how Mari operated when confronted with an individual that spoke with their heart on a sleeve. “If you stick to the past, what’s the point in protecting the future because you were never part of it to begin with.”


	56. Master of My Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor reconciles his past to strive forward for his future.

The things he carried were as tangible as the sake at his lips when Viktor sat between Hiroko and Yuuri late that night.

The first time he ever charted the night sky with his fingers and a compass, and his father was on an accompanying boat. Both men, Viktor being a lad at the time, stayed out for as long as they could before the winter britches were enough to keep them warm. When Viktor rowed his boat back to the docks and waited for his father to make it to port, VIktor remembered the steam that trailed from his lips. Swirling up into the air, like the sigh that left him now when he gazed into the flashing colors and people that appeared on the TV. People, wearing jerseys and jackets and waving around little flags that made no sense, but Viktor was intrigued. The last time he had seen so much detail, so many colors, was when he was walking around St. Petersburg while holding his mother’s hand. The hues, deep red and rich blues, used to steal Viktor’s glance until his mother had to squeeze his hand to let him know that they had to move. Just as quick as father and mother had come to his mind, Viktor saw their faces in Hiroko and Toshiya. For a moment, Toshiya’s arms bore the weight of a crew and a fishing net. For a moment, Hiroko smelled like soup and porridge to Viktor’s curious nose. When he snuggled against Hiroko’s side, katsudon and tempura shrimp shifted into Viktor’s mind. When he hugged Toshiya, Viktor felt the weight of a father’s love in those arms.

The things he carried were intangible when a warm buzz crept up Viktor’s neck when the lights dimmed on the TV as a ceremony opened to its international audience.

Laughter along the ports of St. Petersburg rushed in and out of Viktor’s ears, accompanied by a choir of gulls when they stole a woman’s bread from the bakery earlier that day. A bounce of red hair and blue eyes warmed Viktor’s fingers. They twitched, remembering the braids they made as a little girl chirped and squeaked about place that only a child could dream about. When Viktor blinked, he indeed heard laughter and squeaks. They came from Mari, who was busy brushing her hair after a soak in the hot springs. A loose t-shirt and some sweatpants kept her comfy, and her fingers raked through her hair before she felt another set brush against her own. She turned her head, Viktor motioned that he wanted to braid her hair. Amidst the roar of the crowd and the music that filtered through the TV, Mari gave Viktor a nod. He began his work, slowly intertwining sections of Mari’s hair to style a familiar braid. Viktor could close his eyes, and his fingers would know exactly what to do. In his past, Viktor could spell the salty sea that rocked a navy ship back and forth. The sway, lulling his mind to ease while Viktor braided, and he heard a familiar voice. A voice that wondered at what Viktor was thinking about. When Viktor turned around, the jangle of his badges against his chest, he met a familiar shade of blue from a colleague that knew him all too well. In the present, Viktor heard the same question but a different, yet familiar voice. Viktor felt Yuuri’s fingers when the latter draped a blanket over his shoulders. It was a cold night, perfect for holding one another amidst the chaos and history surveyed in a span of five minutes for the opening ceremony. Yuuri cocked his head to the side, his eyes distracting Viktor for a moment before he carried on his braiding. His arm brushed against Yuuri’s, ad he felt that he was at home.

What he carried was more than his past, and Viktor whistled when he saw the  _ hundreds  _ of athletes coming through an opening.

His voice met Mari’s, their yells and whistles harmonized. Viktor’s stance matched Toshiya’s, their eyes couldn’t tear away from the screen. Viktor hugged Hiroko and she squeezed him back, something mutual happened between their hearts and it felt as if Viktor was hugging his mother and Hiroko was hugging her son. When Viktor leaned on Yuuri’s shoulder and Yuuri whispered to him about the games and what was to come, Viktor realized how far he had come. This game, how so many athletes came together to show their best after years of dedication, felt like a metaphor for VIktor’s own life.

How he started somewhere:  _ a breathing person with a chip on his shoulder. _

How he had fallen:  _ lost his family, lost his friends, became a pirate, lost the pirates that he considered as his friends, lost Captain, lost his soul… _

How he found a goal:  _ swimming to Hasetsu to bring Makkachin back home, meeting Yuuri for the first time, meeting Yuuri for a second time, and the familiar ache in his heart when it missed his soul. _

How he fought:  _ Chihoko was a nasty trickster, the painful stump of where his left eye used to be, reassurance that he could walk again despite his falls, the past haunting him like a spectre in the dark. _

His first taste of gold:  _ the warmth of a marble alongside his heart, the love of a family, the touch of a lover, and Viktor was free. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's implied that they're watching the Olympics


	57. What about Us?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time, Yuuri asks a question that has been bothering him for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm growing more comfortable with writing for Yuuri and Viktor again.

A low hum, a sudden silence dawned on Yuuri when he leaned forward on his bed. Knees crisscrossed, resembling a pair of butterfly wings and his nose nearly touched his sheets. Just as Yuuri glanced back, Viktor rested his hands near the middle of his back and began the massage. Weathered, chipped fingers danced along the back of Yuuri’s t-shirt like a pair of skates. Viktor hummed a little tune, a familiar lullaby that he had learned from the dolphins along the coast of Portugal a few decades ago. He couldn’t translate the song into his or Yuuri’s native tongue, but the soft clicks and whistles eased their minds and sweetened this lack of distance between them.

Viktor worked through every, tough knot that twitched just below Yuuri’s skin, and he murmured some advice as Yuuri stretched and tried to touch the edge of his bed with his fingertips. At times, Yuuri couldn’t hear Viktor’s words words even though his lips were moving. During those moments, a thought blossomed across his mind and Yuuri felt a bit self-conscious again. Was it a good idea to invite Viktor into his room, like this? Where Viktor was wearing one of Yuuri’s old sweaters, where the sleeves barely clung to Viktor’s shoulder as he worked. One had already slipped down his arm, and Viktor didn’t feel that it was necessary to pull it back up. Viktor’s bangs tickled the hints of Yuuri’s back when he leaned close, squinting at a knot that he couldn’t see. But the touch was noticeable, and Viktor gave Yuuri a quick warning before he applied more pressure to the area. Burying his knuckles into the spot, and Yuuri gave a high whistle and his hands clutched at his bedsheets. His shoulders shook, and Viktor mumbled that it wouldn’t hurt to so much if Yuuri could just relax.

_ “I don’t know if I can,” _ Yuuri whispered back. His grip didn’t loosen until Viktor’s hand migrated down the length of his arm. Viktor’s fingers grazed over Yuuri’s fingers, caressing them slowly as if he was petting an urchin at the bottom of the sea.

“You’re hurt.” Viktor sighed between his teeth. He gave Yuuri a warm embrace, loose at the touch so that Yuuri could wiggle away if he didn’t want to be touched like that. But Yuuri remained under Viktor’s hold, and the awkward silence rose again. Viktor wasn’t sure if he should continue the massage but when Yuuri sat up straight and loosened his shoulders, he gave a soft smile when he turned and met Viktor’s gaze.

_ Trust  _ ghosted over Viktor’s lips and he rested his hands at Yuuri’s shoulders and worked. Sometimes, his fingers would reach up and hold a sliver of Yuuri’s hair for just a moment. Perhaps, Viktor’s strange way of reassurance that this moment was real. That Yuuri was indeed in front of him, and that Yuuri was indeed close enough to cuddle if they both agreed to it. The thought brightened a smile over Viktor’s face, and Yuuri felt the radiance when he lifted his hand. Admiring the few spots where Viktor touched, and it looked as if he was admiring an imaginary ring. The ring, looped around a silver chain on Viktor’s person, glistened at that.

It glistened like the wondrous jewels tucked in-between the pages of Yuuri’s prized books. The ring glistened like the childhood frames and portraits, all on a row on Yuuri’s study desk and just behind a few notes he had for the seals that he was tending at work. The ring appeared as a reflection in Yuuri’s eyes, a tentative question hovered at his breath. Unsure if it was appropriate to ask, but Yuuri wouldn’t know if he didn’t try.

It was a thought that had been bothering for him some time, ever since he and Takeshi found the twelve, rotting mers drifting along the Gulf of Hasetsu. Ever since Yuuri’s curiosity towards his past was piqued when Viktor first stepped foot into Yutopia Hot Springs. It was that little voice in the back of his mind when he had collapsed on a pier, all those weeks ago, and bawled his eyes out when he realized what Viktor had become.

“How are you human?”

Yuuri noticed the pause at Viktor’s fingers. His fingernails hovered over Yuuri’s body, barely a twitch along the joints. Viktor had a few options. He could tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Or perhaps, he could speak from his heart. Even so, Viktor didn’t know if he could convey what he meant, but he wouldn’t know know if he didn’t try. So despite this hesitation, Viktor found his strength when Yuuri reached his hand behind him and patted Viktor’s leg to calm him down.

“I’m human because…” Viktor draped a blanket over Yuuri’s shoulders, “this is who I am.”

Yuuri knew that there was more to the response. That Viktor had deliberately withheld information on how he retrieved a soul, whose soul it originally belonged to, and why. Perhaps, “why” was already a given and Yuuri could use his imagination on how Viktor got a human soul into his possession. Or maybe, he didn’t have to use his imagination since it was best not to think about it, and Viktor didn’t seem like the type of mer that would snatch a human from a pier or beach. But then again, Yuuri didn’t know much about Viktor. Well, he knew enough since he invited Viktor here, and Yuuri was comfortable in dropping his guard. Even if it rose for just a moment.

Viktor sensed Yuuri’s unease, and a few squeaks fluttered from his lips. A little habit that never truly left him because it kept Viktor at ease for years when he was alone, and he wanted to remind Yuuri that no one was ever truly alone in matters and feelings like this.

“Was I a monster, then?” Viktor asked.

“You used to.” Yuuri leaned against Viktor’s chest, peering up and meeting the teal lingering behind Viktor’s eyes. “I’m not afraid anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> I did some Mer!Viktor and Yuuri posts on my tumblr (@yuuris-piano), so I decided to post them here on AO3 for people to enjoy!


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